Disease

Image: Map of the Sundarbans, part of the Ganges River Delta, where Cholera first emerged. Source: World Wildlife Fund

nytimes.com - February 6th 2017 - Donald G. McNeil Jr.

Two hundred years ago, the first cholera pandemic emerged from these tiger-infested mangrove swamps.

It began in 1817, after the British East India Company sent thousands of workers deep into the remote Sundarbans, part of the Ganges River Delta, to log the jungles and plant rice. These brackish waters are the cradle of Vibrio cholerae, a bacterium that clings to human intestines and emits a toxin so virulent that the body will pour all of its fluids into the gut to flush it out.

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Video: design that heals: documentary trailer video courtesy of MASS design group

designboom.com - 21 September 2016 - Philip Stevens

In the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit haiti in 2010, MASS design group partnered with a leading health care provider to design a state-of-the-art healthcare facility for cholera. The disease, which had not existed in haiti for more than a century, quickly became a huge problem following the disaster, with patients treated in temporary tents that became hot and difficult to keep sanitary. 

Working alongside les centres GHESKIO, MASS design group not only built the treatment center, but incorporated an on-site wastewater treatment facility to thwart the re-contamination of water and consequent spread of disease.

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submitted by John Carroll

un.org

30 November 2016 – The response to cholera in Haiti will be a “long and thorough battle,” but the United Nations will stand by the Haitian people and authorities, Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, on the eve of the launch of the Organization's new approach to tackling the epidemic in the country.

The new approach was announced last August and will be launched by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, 1 December. It includes rapid interventions in areas where cases are reported and the prevention of future high-risk public health crises.

The new approach on cholera also focuses on people and proposes the establishment of a program of material assistance and support to Haitians directly affected by the disease.

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David Nabarro, United Nations secretary-general’s special adviser leading the cholera response in Haiti.
Photo by: Cia Pak / U.N.

devex.com - by Amy Lieberman - October 26, 2016

As it scrambles to ensure cholera doesn’t surge in Haiti the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, the United Nations is coming up short on funds.

A $120 million emergency flash appeal for relief and recovery work remains only 28 percent funded, now more than three weeks after the storm hit Haiti on Oct 4. Even more questions linger over how the U.N. will fund a planned $400 million Multi-Partner Trust Fund, half of which would go toward material compensation for victims of cholera and their communities. The fund is meant to complement U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s acceptance of responsibility for bringing cholera to Haiti following an earthquake in 2010.

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