Haiti Blames UN Forces For Starting Cholera Epidemic

A child suffering cholera symptoms is examined at the Doctors Without Borders temporary hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)

Protesters in Haiti's capital are lashing out at United Nations peacekeepers and the government, blocking roads and attacking foreigners' vehicles.  Demonstrators have set up burning barricades, and Haitian police have responded with tear gas. Vehicles belonging to the UN and non-governmental organizations have been pelted with rocks.  Days of rioting in northern Haiti are over suspicions that UN soldiers from Nepal introduced a cholera epidemic into the country. The  Nepalese base is located on the Artibonite River system, where the outbreak started. The soldiers arrived there in October following outbreaks in their home country and about a week before Haiti's epidemic was discovered.


The UN military mission denies responsibility for the epidemic. The number of cholera cases in Haiti is likely much higher than official figures suggest because many patients never make it to hospitals or treatment centres, a UN official said. The Pan American Health Organization said in a statement Wednesday that 1,100 people have died and more than 18,000 people have been hospitalized since the cholera outbreak in Haiti began in late October.

 Cholera is  an intestinal infection caused by consuming food or water contaminated by Vibrio cholerae bacteria.  Transmitted by feces, the disease can be all but prevented if people have access to safe drinking water and regularly wash their hands. But sanitary conditions don't exist in much of Haiti and the disease has spread across the countryside.  The outbreak has now spread to seven of the country's 10 administrative regions, known as departments.
"This epidemic is not going to go away," a rep from the Pan American Health Organizatio said, noting that experience in other countries suggests the cholera outbreak could last as long as a year. "It is almost impossible to stop." He said the number of cholera treatment centres is increasing but recent protests have been slowing the delivery of aid to some areas, particularly near Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city.
"We have had a number of protests from Haitians not wanting the centres in their communities because they fear they will somehow get infected," he said. "We're trying to tell them having a treatment centre close is actually an advantage to you."

The UN has called for nearly $164 million US to assist with the cholera outbreak. The European Commission said Thursday that European nations should send Haiti a whole range of medical supplies, not just money, to fight the cholera outbreak. The commission said there is a great need for medical skills, beds, epidemiological expertise, antibiotics, intravenous catheters, body bags, water purification tablets, rehydration salts and ambulances.

The UN's World Health Organization said in Geneva on Tuesday that efforts should focus on controlling the disease, not determining where it came from. WHO spokesman Fadela Chaib told reporters that "at some time we will do further investigation but it's not a priority right now." The UN's spokeswoman in Geneva, Corinne Momal-Vanian, described the suspicion that Nepalese troops were to blame for the outbreak as "misinformation."

The cholera backlash plays upon some Haitians' long-standing resentment of the 12,000-member UN military mission, which has been the dominant security force in Haiti since 2004. It is also rooted both in fear of a disease previously unknown to Haiti and internationally shared suspicion that the UN base could have been a source of the infection. Cholera had never been documented in Haiti before it broke out about three weeks ago.

President René Préval addressed the nation last Sunday to dispel myths and educate people on good sanitation and hygiene.