ARTICLE - MEXICO - CHOLERA COOPERATION

MEXICO OFFERS COOPERATION IN FIGHT AGAINST CHOLERA
(Defend Haiti) -

PORT-AU-PRINCE - The Mexican government said in the context of strengthening bilateral relations with Haiti, that it has sent a large cache of cholera treating items to the Haitian government and hopes to build clinics, send health caravans and offer vocational training in the future.

One hundred (100) barrels of calcium hypochlorite and five hundred thousand (500,000) latex gloves were handed to the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) by the Mexican ambassador accredited to Port-au-Prince, Luis Manuel Lopez Moreno and the ambassador for cooperation, Daniel A. Cámara Ávalos.

The gift was received by the Haitian Minister of Public Health and the Population, Florence D. Guilliame, on Friday, December 23. Ávalos said he was delighted to make this donation on behalf of his government. According to him, a good coverage of health is very important for the development of a country. "A healthy society can meet challenges of all kinds," he said.

For his part, the Mexican official responsible for cooperation announced that his country will finance the construction of several clinics, health caravans and vocational training. This will be done with the aim of making health care more accessible in the country. He took the opportunity to indicate that Mexico will continue to support Haiti's institutions.

Mrs Guilliame warmly thanked Mexican cooperation on behalf of the Haitian government. In turn, she praised the good relations between her country and Mexico and hopes to work with the Mexican Embassy to cover 40% of people without health care.

The Ministry intends to do everything possible to eliminate diarrheal diseases in the country over the next ten years, according to Ms. Duperval.

Group says Cholera Cases Dropping

Cholera has taken nearly 7,000 lives since October 2010 when a United Nations Peacekeeping base near the Artibonite (Central region) became occupied by soldiers carrying the disease.

Haiti had not reported a cholera outbreak in more than a half century and in short time the deadly disease spread through every corner of the nation.

In recent news, a Doctors Without Borders official, Dr. Wendy Lai told the Associated Press that "the number of cholera cases has dropped to an average of 10 to 20 cases a day in two separate treatment centers in the crowded capital of Port-au-Prince compared to a bump of an average of 30 to 40 cases a day a month ago."

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a report supporting the findings of Doctors Without Borders. The U.N. report added that fatality rates continue to drop or have stabilized in almost all of Haiti's 10 departments, with the exception of the Southeast, where it jumped from 2.2 percent in January to 2.4 percent in November.

The cholera infection rate fluctuates throughout the year..... Rainy seasons increase the spread and cases as oppose to dry seasons.

More than 5,000 Haitians have signed with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti to request damages from the United Nations, which has denied responsibility for the epidemic.