The European Union is making €1 million available to support the emergency response to the cholera epidemic in Haiti.

These funds were mobilized by the Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Department of the European Union, to support actions that will be implemented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

The emergency response will benefit approximately 48,000 people by facilitating access to timely and adequate life-saving treatment and protecting vulnerable people from cholera infection.

With this emergency funding from the European Union, PAHO will purchase essential inputs to improve treatment delivery and cholera detection capabilities, such as rapid tests, reagents, equipment for the collection of samples and laboratory diagnosis, and will fund telecommunications and data processing teams to support field epidemiologists, community health representatives and mobile clinic nurses. In addition, the funding will help expand and optimize cholera bed capacities while supporting medical centers in implementing cholera-specific protocols.

PAHO will coordinate with the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) to support departmental epidemiological surveillance while working to strengthen the expertise of multipurpose community health workers (ASCP) so that they can quickly identify cases. of cholera and support containment, prevention and response activities.

EU emergency funding will also be used to organize communication and awareness campaigns to raise awareness of how to prevent and control the spread of cholera and protect the most vulnerable people.

IH/ iciHaiti