PAHO Says Haiti Needs 'Intensified Action for Health'

[seemslikeadream]

Washington, DC, March 22, 2004 (PAHO)—"Intensified action for health," restoration of water systems and quick repair of health facilities are all urgently needed to relieve the suffering of people in Haiti, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) experts said today.

Although the acute emergency phase in Haiti seems to be ending, the current crisis has disrupted Haitians' access to essential health care and interrupted key public health programs such as immunization, HIV/AIDS prevention, and tuberculosis control, said Dr. Jean-Luc Poncelet, who heads PAHO's Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination unit, and who just returned from Haiti.

Poncelet said a series of actions are needed to prevent catastrophic ill-health over the next six months. These include: Enabling access to essential health services in key facilities, improving confidence in health services including their security environment, emergency repairs to main water systems in large cities, and restoration of "life-saving public health programs" such as replacing vaccine equipment that was looted and critical stocks of medical supplies, medicines, and laboratory reagents.

"In the current circumstances, the main threat to people's lives and well-being are infectious diseases, lack of access to emergency health care, and shortage of treatment and essential medicines for persons with chronic conditions," Poncelet said.

http://www.paho.org/English/DD/PIN/pr040322.htm



U.S. Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., patrol the streets of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti on Monday March 15, 2004. (AP Photo/US Air Force, Tech. Sgt. Andy Dunaway)