Cholera Outbreak

Haiti Jessica Ganzalez LHHS MUN 2011 WHO Cholera Outbreak Position Paper Background: Cholera is a disease that starts in the intestines, caused by the consumption of impure food or water with the bacteria Vibrio Cholera. The two most common indication of Cholera are diarrhea and excessive vomiting. Cholera is an extremely virulent disease and affects both children and adults and can kill within hours, if left untreated. During the 19th century, cholera spread across the world from its original reservoir in the Ganges delta in India.Six subsequent pandemics killed millions of people across all continents. The current (seventh) pandemic started in South Asia in 1961, and reached Africa in 1971 and the Americas in 1991. Cholera is now endemic in many countries. This disease is not a complete threat to countries that have regular access to clean water and hygiene. The more urbanized Asian nations such as China and India have developed medical treatments for this deadly disease, but the l ess developed countries have yet to find ways to be less influenced by this broad topic. UN Involvement:The World Health Organization (WHO) has greatly influenced the discontinue of Cholera by launching the WHO Global Task Force on Cholera Control in 1992 following the adoption of a resolution on cholera by the Forty-fourth World Health Assembly. The plan was to lessen death associated with the disease and to deal with the social and economic consequences of cholera. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and numerous other committees are also working on proposals and resolutions to decrease the number affected by this preventable virus with the help of the World Bank, grants given by nations, and NGOs.The United Nations have also donated thousands of medical kits and supplied countries with doctors to treat those affected. In addition the United Nations agencies and their partners today appealed for $164 million to support Haiti’s efforts to fight the deadly chol era outbreak that has already claimed several hundred lives in the small Caribbean nation. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 12,000 Haitians having been hospitalized so far, and over 800 people have died from the disease, which is spread by contaminated food and water.Country Policy/ Possible Solutions Haiti has been overwhelmed with famine and disease for years, but after the massive January earthquake hit, it put Haiti in even more misery then before. Recently they have had close to none clean drinking water and food. The cholera epidemic has killed 1,110 people and sickened 18,382 as of November of 2010, and has piled depression on the Caribbean country. The violence in Cap-Haitian prevented cholera patients from reaching hospitals and halted distribution of medicines and caused many injuries. Protesters blamed U.N. Nepalese peacekeepers for bringing the cholera to Haiti, a charge denied by the U. N. mission. Anti-U. N. riots in the Haitian city of Cap-Haitian have upset worldwide efforts to undertake a spreading cholera epidemic, increasing the risk of infection and death for tens of thousands of poor Haitians in the north. With the number of cases from the current cholera outbreak in Haiti in the thousands and the number of deaths in the hundreds and rising, it is only a matter of time before this treacherous disease spreads into further more severe matters.A possible solution would be to provide a large administration of sugar water, and an increase in the number of clinics and medical facilities that offer intravenous fluids. If my resolution is promoted this issue would slowly fade because oral rehydration salts and oral electrolyte solutions are a simple, cheap, and effective treatment for diarrhoea-related dehydration such as Cholera. I also believe that if there is enough evidence to guarantee widespread use of the oral cholera vaccine people in Haiti and other nations would become healthier, preven ting them from infectious diseases such as cholera.The World Bank, UN, and other organizations willing to participate in this mission would help fund the project. Not only would these solutions ensure health, but it would also bring contributor nation’s one-step closer to the millennium goals of Combating Diseases and Environmental sustainability. Before cholera spreads to the U. S. and around the world, we need to see this outbreak contained and controlled in Haiti. More than anything else, we need big infusion of sugar/electrolyte drinking water and intravenous salt solution to be sent to the countries suffering with diseases along with a program to vaccinate travelers and everyone living there. Sources http://www. reuters. com/article/2010/11/17/us-haiti-cholera-idUSTRE6AG3ZC20101117 http://www. globalsecurity. org/military/library/news/2010/11/mil-101112-unnews03. htm http://www. who. int/cholera/en/index. html http://medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/cholera htt p://www. who. int. mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en/index. html http://www. undp. org/mdg/basics. shtml