Outbreak in Haiti: Cholera claims lives

The most common cause of Cholera is lack of clean water. The most common cure for Cholera is clean water. Ironic.

This disease is more common in developing countries, such as Haiti, where there is a lack of sewage systems and way of transporting clean water to people. Recent news is discussing the reasons for deaths in Haiti and the ways in which the country can address the problems of getting clean water, and getting access to it. For information about this alarming issue, the UN News Centre reports on nearly 470,000 cholera cases in Haiti over the past year.

On October 13, 2011, CNN’s Health news released an article titled “Lessons from Haiti’s deadly cholera outbreak,” which discusses what the disease is, what it is caused by and what the situation is currently in Haiti. A doctor interviewed by CNN (Dr. Robert Tauxe) stressed that since the outbreak there have been efforts to make changes, causing the number of deaths to decrease for 4% to 1%. CNN mentioned that the main reason for the deaths was that people in Haiti could not acquire clean water, or had no access to it in a time of crisis. CNN presents a very serious situation and portrays Haiti as a struggling country in stating that the actions that are necessary to take to continue preventing Cholera and bacterial infection are not easy for them. For people in Haiti, it is the lack of water, as well as the lack of medical professionals that leaves this as a continuous problem. CNN's article said that 6,000 lives have been claimed from Cholera in the past year. CNN stated that CDC officials believe that educating the people in Haiti is the best way to help them treat the disease, but according to other sources, it seems like the issue may go beyond informing the public and just centrals around the access to the water.

On the same day, October 13, 2011, news from the Associated Press provided a strikingly different portrayal of the situation in Haiti in an article titled "Experts say Haiti has worst Cholera." CNN shined light on positive change, and that the number of deaths were decreasing. However, this article titled “Haiti group sees jump in cholera cases in capital,” presents the issue as worsening.

(Photo from necell.com)

Zintzen, head of Doctors without Borders, was interviewed in this article and denoted the increase in deaths from the rainfall and causing waterborne diseases. The Associated Press article does not mention education as an outlet for success in decreasing the number of those affected by Cholera, but highlights how the poverty of the country remains the major issue.This article has similar statistics as CNN, stating that more than 6,200 have been killed since last year from Cholera, but also mentions an alarming number of 440,000 that have become ill, but not passed away from the poor water sanitation in Haiti.

A third article by the Washington Post, "Halting Cholera's rampage in Haiti," written on September 22nd, presents the statistic of 6,500 people who have died from Cholera and almost half a million that have been affected (close to 440,000 number given in Associated Press article). Overall, the numbers found in the three articles are similar. However, the Washington Post states that officials are enumerating incorrectly and the stats are a lot lower than what they actually are. This means, the situation with the water contamination in Haiti may be much more concerning than we are told. For the first time in the articles viewed, the Washington Post highlights the earthquake in Haiti as the commencement of major issues with water sanitation. Also, this article talks about the effects of the earthquake really playing a roll in the people’s access to water that is clean. So, not only is the actual water an issue, but finding access to water in general remains a problem.

The Washington Post article echoes the trend presented in CNN’s article- that the number of deaths is decreasing and that education will need to be present for the problem to successfully be addressed. This article highlights the importance of the people understanding sanitation as a means of assisting in the country’s struggle.

(Photo from Info Checkers)

The coverage of recent issues with Cholera and water sanitation in Haiti varies. The media presents the severities of the problem and various procedures to try to solve it. The media is conveying the lack of clean water in Haiti as problematic, but some sources believe they are on the upswing (Washington Post article), while others believe that the situation is at its worst (CNN article and Associated Press article). The differences in the media coverage of how to combat the problem of Cholera are most concerning because those absorbing the news may believe education to the people is the best way of fueling recovery in Haiti, while others will invest money to support this developing country from afar. To ensure that Haiti can overcome the continuing deaths from lack of clean water, consistency in the approach to problem solving, presented by the media, would be beneficial.

**On Nov 8, another article was released by CNN discussing the compensation that Haiti victims are petitioning for from the UN to aid in their recovery from cholera. This is an interesting follow up to my blog post and news evaluations from over a month earlier. Now 6,700 people have been killed, and they are demanding compensation for a sickness that killed so many of their people, but apparently didn't originate in their country.