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Haiti: Natural hazards can influence the outbreak and spread of disease…
Haiti: Natural hazards can influence the outbreak and spread of disease 2010
Geographical area covered by the hazard and its influence on the risk and outbreak of disease
80% of the population live below the poverty line with only 40% of the population having access to basic healthcare.
Magnitude 7 earthquake which destroyed 280,000 buildings
Widespread destruction to water systems and roads.
Disease had spread through Haiti and cases were being reported in neighbouring Dominican Republic.
Factors that influenced the spread of disease
Medical
As haiti had no exposure to cholera before this, there was no natural immunity within the population, meaning the spread and death toll would be serious.
After effects of the earhquake
High internal migration within Haiti, sperading the disease nation wide
Overcrowding in poor quality accomodation, such as temporary camps for displaced
Migration into rural areas to escape the disease brought it with them, spreading it further across the nation
Environmental
Rainfall: low, not a large factor
Hurricane Tomas: November 2010, caused flooding spreading infected water.
Hurricane Sandy: december 2012, caused another outbreak
socio economic
Reliance on the Artibonite River for farming, fishing and transportation: increased exposure to contaminated water
Poverty: lack of access to drinking water and basic sanitation (17% of hatians had access to proper latrines).
This forced people to use the dirty water for drinking, cooking, and washing ad an alternative to latrines.
Lack of awareness of the importance of sanitation and disposing human waste
Poorly funded and ill equipped medical institutions to treat an epidemic this large
Human factors affecting the spread of disease suc as population, access to clean water, immunisation programmes
UN peacekeepers spread the disease from Nepal in 2010
The disease didn't arrive until 10 months later when these workers migrated to Haiti
Many of the population lived in dense, makeshift shanty towns or temporary camps
Sewage from the army base had been transmitted to the Artibonite river, contaminating the whole of the valley downstream of Mirebalais.
Impacts of the disease on resident populations
Strategies used to minimise the impacts of the disease at national and inter national scales.
The UN: two prong approach
Save lives and those already affected
Stop the spread of the disease to further populations
Strategies
Specialised cholera treatment centres set up in 2010 to relieve over burdened hospitals.
These were over whelmed with patients, and oral rehydration centres were set up in smaller communities to help patients with less severe symptoms.
Reducing spread of infection: widespread personal hygiene campaign was launched to promote things like boiling cholerated water and supplying chlorine tabs to rural communities.
Effects: Infection rates plummeted in 2011, mortality among cholera victims decreased from 10% in October 2010 to less than 1% from Januray 2010 onwards.
However, there is still the challenge of creating adequate sanitation. Cholera re - emerges every rainy season indicating it is not yet eradicated. This can only be done through wide spread access to clean water.