Oxfam’s Water and Sanitation advisor Raphael Mutiku said:
“Medical care and hospitals are well set up and we’re really getting a foothold against this disease. There is still a huge amount of work to be done to educate people about good personal hygiene but we can see progress on the ground. Increasing people’s access to clean water and ongoing preventive messages all across the country is what will stop the spread of this disease.
“Oxfam has now reached close to 40,000 people with distributions of soap, water purification tablets, and oral rehydration salt packs. We also began broadcasting hygiene messages on radio stations, reaching 100,000 Haitians.
“We are training Haitians to get the preventive messages out there to as many as possible. The aid community is working closely with local groups, provincial leaders and mayors to combat this disease. It’s very encouraging to see everyone coming together to help out, working around the clock to stop the spread. Cholera is a very dangerous disease, but it can be contained.”
Contact:
In Haiti: Julie Schindall on +1 617 735 5572, +509 3701 0651 (Haiti mobile)
In Australia: Kate Thwaites on +61 407 515 559, katethwaites@oxfam.org.au
Note:
Oxfam has been assigned to do a water, sanitation and hygiene program in a zone in Artibonite called Petite Riviere, where 100,000 people live in the area.
Comments are closed.