ARTICLE - CANADA - MOST AID DISTRIBUTED

HAITI RELIEF MONEY MOSTLY DISTRIBUTED
(CBC) - By Laura Payton

Most of the Canadian money set aside for relief work following a massive earthquake in Haiti last year has been given out, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda said Thursday.

But the country still faces problems with its health and infrastructure.

The Canadian government has disbursed more than two-thirds of its $400-million post-earthquake commitment to Haiti, Oda said in a teleconference from the country, and 98 per cent of the matching funds from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund have been pledged to aid groups.

The January 2010 earthquake devastated the country, leading to massive aid efforts and financial pledges from around the world. The rebuilding was complicated with almost one out of five civil servants dying in the quake and 40 per cent of government buildings destroyed.

Now, 21 months later, half the rubble has been removed, Oda said. It's gone entirely from main arteries and secondary roads, but remains around some privately owned buildings.

"In the public places, I would say the streets and the roads are safe," she said.

But a year after its initial outbreak, cholera is still a concern in the country.

Doctors Without Borders reported this week that cholera is rife in Haiti and "far from under control." The country's Ministry of Public Health and Population says more than 446,000 people had been infected by the disease by the end of August and approximately 6,300 people had died from it.

Doctors Without Borders has treated almost 160,000 patients since the first cases of cholera were confirmed in October, 2010.

Oda said there's a "slight increase" in the incidence of cholera, but mortality has decreased significantly.

"With the increase in the number of treatment centres available, we're also seeing that people are going for help earlier after having got cholera so the treatments are being [more] effective," she said, although the organizations that arrived during the height of the outbreak are now leaving.

"So there's increased demand at the remaining treatment centres. But the report given to me yesterday is that it's still manageable and being managed quite well," Oda said.

Canada has made Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, one of the countries on which it focuses its aid. The country is also getting funding out of Canada's G8 Muskoka Initiative, which pledged money specifically for maternal and child health.

Oda said that money has provided free health services and increased the number of women receiving help during delivery, as well as for pre- and post-natal care.