(United Nations) The cholera epidemic has now claimed 283 lives in Haiti and is spreading across the territory, the UN was alarmed on Thursday, generally highlighting the worrying scale of humanitarian needs in the poor Caribbean country. .
“The cholera epidemic continues to be a concern for the country and for us. The number of cases continues to rise, with 283 deaths and nearly 12,000 hospitalizations” since the resurgence of the disease in early October, said the UN humanitarian coordinator for Haiti Ulrika Richardson during a press conference. In mid-November, the toll was 161 dead and more than 7,500 hospitalizations.
Another “worrying trend”, “what we are seeing is not only a continuous increase in the number of cholera cases, but also a spread in the regions, with eight departments out of 10 having confirmed cases”, she said. added.
In mid-November, the UN launched an appeal to raise $145.6 million to deal with the epidemic. To date, “only 16%”, or 23.5 million, have been pledged, noted Ulrika Richardson.
But in a country ravaged by gang violence, the humanitarian needs go beyond the sole question of this resurgence of cholera, which killed more than 10,000 people between 2010 and 2019.
Thus, while one in two Haitians does not have enough to eat, the UN is preparing a humanitarian plan for 2023 valued at $719 million, almost twice as much as for 2022. “It’s a worrying situation” , she noted, also denouncing “galloping insecurity”.
The gangs that dominate “nearly 60% of the capital” use, “with terrifying intensity, sexual violence as a weapon to keep the population under their control”, she said.