Recent media coverage on PIH's work in Haiti

Posted on Jan 21, 2010

View recent coverage of PIH's efforts Haiti from a variety of media outlets:

Paul Farmer Appointed University Professor (Harvard Magazine  Jan/2010)
Harvard announced today that Paul Farmer, M.D. ’88, Ph.D. ’90, anthropologist and physician and founder of Partners in Health, has been appointed the first Kolokotrones University Professor. Farmer is known globally as a humanitarian who has worked to deliver care to desperately underserved people in Haiti and elsewhere. An excerpt from Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder ’67, which brought Farmer’s work to broader attention, is available here.

The best we can do: Battling cholera in Haiti (North Shore News  12/19/2010)
A three-hour drive later along bumpy roads and through the Haitian countryside we arrived in Hinche with the ever present UN military standing guard. Little time was wasted introducing us to the cholera tents and the plan of care.

The Gifts of Hope (New York Times (Opinion)  12/18/2010)
New York Times
’s Nicholas Kristof highlighted 9 charities he recommends donating to this holiday season – including Partners In Health. Read Kristof’s entire list.  

Global Health Pioneer Paul Farmer Given Prestigious University Professor title at Harvard (MSN: Good Health  12/17/2010)
Paul Farmer was named University Professor today, a title, according to Bloomberg News is the highest faculty rank, providing him freedom to cross boundaries between academic specialties.  

Dr. Paul Farmer in Newsweek: How We Can Stop Cholera (Skoll Foundation  12/16/2010)
This week in Newsweek, Skoll Entrepreneur Paul Farmer, M.D. and Jean-Renold Rejouit, M.D. explain the roots and solutions for the Haitian cholera epidemic — why they matter to the world, and why no one should give up on Haiti. This is “not your grandmother’s cholera,” writes Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, and Zanmi Lasante’s codirector of women’s health, Jean-Renold Rejouit, in “How We Can Stop Cholera.”

Paul Farmer’s 5 Fixes to Slow Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic (WBUR  12/10/2010)
Cholera has already killed at least 2026 people in Haiti. Today, PIH’s Paul Farmer and his colleagues at PIH write in The Lancet that it’s time to get more aggressive in thinking about how to tackle Haiti’s escalating cholera outbreak.  

Toward A New Strategy for Fighting Cholera in Haiti (NPR  12/10/2010)
Thousands of lives have been saved and the size of Haiti's AIDS epidemic has been cut in half by linking HIV treatment and prevention. Now there's a new question. Could a cholera vaccine slow the spread of the disease in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican Republic? Yes, PIH Drs. Paul Farmer, Louise Ivers, Patrick Almazor and Fernet Leandre in a Lancet article.

Experts call for vaccination, antibiotics in Haiti (Reuters  12/10/2010)
Simply setting up clinics to treat Haitians with cholera is not doing anywhere near enough to tackle the epidemic there, health experts said on Friday, calling for intensive vaccination and more use of antibiotics. Paul Farmer and colleagues at Partners In Health said current strategies are not working. "Rehydration alone without any antibiotics, in our view, is not a good idea, even for moderate cases of cholera," reports Farmer. 

Haiti protests ease, US senator pressures govt (AP  12/10/2010)
Dr. Paul Farmer, cofounder of the Boston-based charity Partners in Health, said yesterday that a strong public sector is essential to Haiti’s recovery. “You can’t do public health without a public sector, and you can’t do public water without a public sector,’’ he said. “We’ve flipped and flopped all over the place in our relations with Haiti.’’ 

Use of Cholera Vaccine in Haiti is Now Viewed as Viable (The New York Times  12/10/2010)
Dr. Paul Farmer, who is well known for fighting AIDS in Haiti, endorsed broader use of a cholera vaccine in Haiti, and called for creating emergency stockpiles of millions of doses to keep cholera from spreading to other countries.

He endorsed measures like searching Haiti’s central mountains for people too sick to reach clinics, using antibiotics even in moderate cases and rebuilding the water and sanitation networks shattered by January’s earthquake.

Death and decay in Haiti’s hospitals (Toronto Star  12/10)
The newest member of Lovely’s family was born here last month, the cord yanked from around his howling throat. He died, still unnamed, 15 days later. No one knows why…

“Rather than developing a parallel system to replace what the ministry can’t do, we’re trying to support what the ministry has the authority to do,” says PIH’s Dr. Louise Ivers.

Cholera vaccine, antibiotics urged for Haiti (CNN  12/10)
The cholera epidemic in Haiti continues to spread, particularly in the rural areas in the north, which has public health advocates calling for more to be done to try to stem the spread of disease. PIH’s Dr. Paul Farmer calls for more antibiotics and vaccines to be shipped to the small Caribbean nation in the most recent edition of the Lancet. 

Foreign Policy: How to Keep the WHO Relevant (NPR  12/9/2010)
The WHO — for 62 years the world's go-to agency on all public health matters — is today outmoded, underfunded, and overly politicized. In a world of rapid technological change, travel, and trade, the WHO moves with a bureaucracy's speed.

Another advantage of this local focus would be the opportunity to forge stronger relationships with the private organizations, such Partners In Health, which actually implement health programs.

Container Laden with High-Performance SolarWorld Panels Sails to Haiti (Business Wire  12/9/2010)
Some 100,000 watts worth of high-performance solar panels have shipped out of Miami to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where they will be redeployed to five remote medical centers.

Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), a US nonprofit that uses sustainable energy to aid developing communities, is managing the project to largely replace expensive, unreliable diesel generators at clinics of Partners In Health, an international medical relief organization.

Haiti cholera likely from UN troops, expert says (AP  12/7/2010)
A contingent of U.N. peacekeepers is the likely source of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed at least 2,000 people. It was not until AP reports of sanitation problems at the base and calls by experts including Paul Farmer, a physician and U.N. official, for a thorough investigation that the matter was seriously discussed in public.

Farmer said there were compelling public health reasons to find the source of the infection, including finding information to help prevent its further spread, and that avoiding the questions was a matter of politics. 

12 graduate in medical software development (The NewTimes  12/7/2010)
Partners In Health (PIH) in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), on Thursday evening, graduated 12 students after they successfully completed a training programme on e-Health: Software Development and Implementation (EHSDI).

The nine-month intensive mentor-driven course for Computer Science graduates was developed to address the need for local software developers who could support the large-scale implementation of electronic medical records systems in Rwanda.

Cholera Rages in Rural Haiti, Overwhelming Clinics (AP  12/3/2010)
Many feared Haiti's growing epidemic would overwhelm a capital teeming with more than 1 million people left homeless by January's earthquake. But, so far, it is the countryside seeing the worst of an epidemic that has killed nearly 1,900 people since erupting less than two months ago.

"Most Haitians live in rural areas and most don't have latrines," said Dr. Louise Ivers of the medical aid group Partners In Health. "Most people have to do their business in a hole in the back garden and drink water from an unprotected source."  It is these people who have the fewest options when they get sick. "Why do you die from cholera? Because you don't have access to health care," Ivers said.

An Interview with Paul Farmer (Harvard Political Review  12/1/2010)
Harvard’s Lily Ostrer int
erviews PIH cofounder Paul Farmer. They discuss cholera, PEPFAR, and Haiti.

PIH pays $105 million RWF ($180,000 US) for needy students in Rwanda  (The Sunday Times of Rwanda  11/30/2010)
Partners In Health (PIH) Rwanda, paid over Rwf 105 million in tuition fees and other school dues for vulnerable children in three districts of Rwanda this year.  The beneficiaries were from Kayonza, Ngoma, Kirehe and Burera districts.

PIH provides entire primary and secondary school fees for HIV affected and vulnerable students, provided they meet the required standards.

5 Lessons From Haiti's Disaster (Foreign Policy  11/29/2010)
Read more about Paul Farmer’s essay in Foreign Policy.

Origin of Haiti’s cholera outbreak a mystery (Miami Herald  11/28/2010)
In Haiti, U.S. and Haitian health officials identified the strain by testing specimens taken Oct. 18 and 19 from rice field workers who drank unchlorinated water from the contaminated Artibonite River. Knowing exactly where it came from might help prevent similar incidents in the future, said Paul Farmer. “We want to have public-health interventions that work.” 

It takes two (Boston Globe  11/28/2010)
“Poets for Haiti’’ (Yileen) is an anthology of poetry and art, including paintings, prints, and mixed media works, many by Haitian-born artists. All proceeds from sales of the book will go to PIH to help Haiti rebuild. In the preface, Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl noted that 1.5 million people were still living in settlement sites in Port-au-Prince as the book was going to press. Dahl will join Robert Pinsky and other poets for a reading at 7 p.m. on Dec. 8 at Porter Square Books in Cambridge.

Arcade Fire: 'The cliched rock life never seemed that cool to us' (The Guardian (UK)  11/28/2010)
Reporting from Barcelona, Spain, Sean O’Hagan interviews Win Butler – lead singer of the band Arcade Fire – backstage after a recent show.  They discuss the ways and reasons why the band has been working alongside Partners In Health. Arcade Fire’s "one dollar, one euro, one pound" ticket policy donates one unit of currency to PIH for every ticket sold. By the close of last year, they had raised $800,000 for the organization. This year, they aim to hit the $1m mark.

Haiti's sweatshops keep costs of our T-shirts low (St. Petersburg Times  11/28/2010)
Reporter Dan DeWitt, who followed Partners In Health through the Central Plateau in September, discusses the pros and cons of Hanes and other corporations setting up t-shirt factories in Haiti. During DeWitt’s visit, PIH staff were encouraging Multi Tex, the company that makes t-shirts for Hanes, to run a designer factory in the Central Plateau.

PIH Pays Rwf 105 Million for Needy Students (All Africa  11/28/2010)
PIH’s sister organization in Rwanda, Inshuti Mu Buzima, paid over Rwf 105 million in tuition fees and other school dues for vulnerable children in three districts of Rwanda this year. PIH provides entire primary and secondary school fees for HIV affected and vulnerable students, provided they meet the required standards. 

Cholera Spreads on Eve of Haiti Elections (NPR Weekend Edition  11/27/2010)
The cholera death toll continues to rise in Haiti. According to official figures from the government, at least 1,648 people have died and
there have been more than 72,000 confirmed cholera cases. Dr. Wesler Lambert with Partners in Health discusses a cholera treatment facility recently set up in Port-au-Prince. 

Cholera’s knockout punch to Haiti (The Toronto Star  11/26/2010)
A 2008 report by Partners In Health estimated that 70 percent of the country’s population couldn’t access clean water. The number of people in the country with septic tanks decreased by 162 per cent between 1990 and 2006. So, like the earthquake before it, cholera comes as a second punch. Natural disaster — wham — and then epidemic — knockout. 

The State of Mental Health in Post-Earthquake Haiti (WBUR - Boston’s NPR affiliate  11/25/2010)
WBUR’s Sasha Pheiffer interviews PIH’s Director of Mental Health, Giuseppe “Bepi” Raviola and PIH’s Director of Mental Health and Psychosocial Services in Haiti, Father Eddy Eustache. Bepi and Father Eddy talk about the complex mental health situations facing Haitians affected by last year’s earthquake but also the various conditions many of these people before January 12, including HIV, amputations, or mental illness.  

“Whether you’re talking about old problems, or new ones, they’re all rooted in poverty” (C-SPAN  11/20/2010)
PIH cofounder Paul Farmer answers caller’s questions on C-SPAN from the Miami Book Fair International. Paul’s interview began with a brief discussion of his recent book, Partner to the Poor, but quickly transitioned into a conversation about the future of Haiti’s government and people and the role of nongovernmental organizations in health care delivery systems around the world. In response to questions about cholera, he also addresses the need to assist Haiti’s government in its goal to deliver water rights to all Haitians.

Haiti’s cholera epidemic is no surprise, experts say
“We can treat water. But we need strong municipal water systems,” said Paul Farmer, founder of Partners In Health, the aid group that helped get the filtration system to Grande Saline. “What Haiti needs is water security, just like every country.”

UN worries its troops caused cholera in Haiti (AP 11/20/2010)
Earlier this month, Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder Partners In Health and UN deputy special envoy for Haiti, supported an investigation into the source of the cholera, saying the refusal to look into the matter publicly was "politics to me, not science."
 
A Vote Against Cholera
Adaq Mendosa, the young Nicaraguan doctor on duty with Partners In Health, works with poor, illiterate farmers who are shocked to learn that cholera can be warded off with simple hygiene. Most of them don’t own soap, and drink water sourced from the Artibonite River, the same water in which they bathe and wash their clothes.

Haiti’s cascading crises comes down to lack of clean water (USA Today  11/19/2010)
It is likely that the cholera epidemic will continue to spread because little has been done to improve Haiti’s water situation. "We really need a massive push of political will," says Joia Mukherjee, medical director of Partners In Health. "This can't just be about handing out water purification tablets."

Did UN Peacekeepers Bring Cholera to Haiti (Foreign Policy  11/18/2010)
The World Health Organization has said that investigating the origin of the outbreak is "not important right now," though longtime Haiti public-health advocate and U.N. deputy special envoy and PIH cofounder Paul Farmer counters that finding the source "would seem to be a good enterprise in terms of public health" and that the reluctance of international organizations to investigate further is politically motivated.

U.S. can lead in fight against extreme hunger (Casper-Star Tribune)
Mariana greets us at the gate of her wooden shack. Her limbs are thin like sticks and her face appears hollow. Is she the sister of the patient whom we have hiked over two hours to reach? She asks me if there is a medicine that will give her enough strength to push this eighth baby into the world.

Partnerships, training key to global health (Harvard Gazette 11/15/2010)
Organizational partnerships, the training of local medical personnel, and increased engagement by academic medical centers to deliver care where it’s needed are all important if the present push to improve global health is to have lasting results,

Responding to Haiti’s Water Crisis (Miami Herald 11/15/10)
Water in Haiti has become a luxury. Only 40 percent of the population, according to official government estimates, has access to safe drinking water either through homes, or distribution points. “We can treat water. But we need strong municipal water systems,” said Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners In Health, the aid group that helped get the filtration system to Grande Saline. “What Haiti needs is water security, just like every country.”

Haiti cholera toll rises as medical supplies are rushed to victims (Catholic News Service 11/15/10)
Louise Ivers, a physician who is chief of mission in Haiti for Boston-based Partners In Health, told reporters in a briefing Nov. 12 that she feared the centers and hospitals could be overrun with cholera patients if the number of cases continues to grow as it did after the hurricane.

Haiti - Epidemic : Cuba sends medical reinforcements (Haiti: Libre 11/14/10)
Despite the active presence on the ground of the Cuban brigade and staff dedicated to the fight against cholera, plus important human resources of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Partners In Health, Artibonite and North West have a need for more medical partners on the ground.

Promises Betrayed Cause Suffering in Haiti (InDepthNews 11/14/10)
Hurricane Tomas, which struck on November 5, threatens to turn the cholera outbreak into a full-blown epidemic. Tomas' winds ripped apart tents and tarps, its rain turned Port-au-Prince's refugee camps into muddy swamps, and its floodwaters may spread the cholera. Partners In Health reports that "living conditions at the camps...have deteriorated as a result of the storm. Standing water, lack of garbage collection and limited sanitation availability make the camps a potential flashpoint for cholera outbreak."

Haiti and cholera are strangers (News and Observer 11/14/10)
The arrival of cholera in Haiti is first and foremost a health emergency. Once the emergency is over, though, the stigma attached to the disease will likely linger, only prolonging the suffering of a country that can hardly afford any more agony. It's happened in Haiti before. In the 1980s HIV crisis, Haiti and its people were falsely associated with the disease and risky behavior. This stunted economic growth, handicapped freedom of movement and disfigured Haiti's public profile. In many ways, the stigma rivaled the spread of disease.

Clinics challenged as cholera spreads (Democracy Now! 11/14/10) 
Dr. Phuoc Lee of Partners In Health spoke with Democracy Now! about the cholera outbreak in Haiti. Phuoc says that staffing is currently adequate, though increased numbers of people continue to show up to PIH medical facilities with signs of cholera. 

Aid Spawns Backlash in Haiti (The Wall Street Journal 11/12/10)
More than a million people are still living in tent cities across Haiti, fueling a cholera epidemic that has killed 796 people even as NGOs have rushed to contain it. The United Nations has asked for $164 million to help combat the disease. There is now a growing debate over the role of NGOs in Haiti.

Paul Farmer, founder of Partners In Health, an NGO which, in conjunction with the ministry of health, is the country's largest health provider, believes that NGOs and foreign governments should channel some of their funds directly to the Haitian state. "NGOs have flourished in number and size as the public sector has withered in Haiti," says Dr. Farmer.

Cholera In Haiti: New Cases, Deaths Up Sharply (WBUR - Boston’s NPR affiliate 11/12/10)
Earlier today, Partners In Health’s Chief of Mission in Haiti Dr. Louise Ivers spoke to reporters on the status of the ongoing outbreak and PIH’s response. She said that the situation has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, with clear signs that the outbreak has spread to the crowded slums and settlement camps in Port-au-Prince. According to the latest report from the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population, a total of 12,303 people have been hospitalized and 796 have died since the outbreak began.

Haiti cholera toll crosses 800 (Haiti News 11/12/10)
A cholera epidemic sweeping across Haiti has killed more than 800 people, hospitalized 12,000 and put an estimated 200,000 at risk, the UN said Friday, as it appealed for $163 million in donor aid. The UN anticipates that up to 200,000 people will show symptoms of cholera, ranging from cases of mild diarrhea to severe dehydration. The number was calculated based on experiences in other countries as well as estimates by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to Partners In Health, Haiti has not had a documented case of cholera since the 1960s. But conditions were ripe for an epidemic even before the Jan 12 earthquake. 

Cholera Outbreak Hits Port-au-Prince (OpEdNews 11/11/10)
On November 9, Haiti Libre said city authorities examined at least 120 suspected cases, mostly in Cite Soleil, the extremely impoverished, densely populated community home to around 400,000. More vulnerable from Hurricane Tomas flooding, Partners In Health (PIH) called crowded camps "a potential flashpoint for a cholera outbreak. There is growing concern" about reported cases, thousands that may spread to many more.

Haiti – Epidemic: The real culprits of the epidemic (Haiti Libre 11/11/10)
In 2008, PIH and three other organizations have published a report on the lack of access to drinking water, chronic in Haiti. According to the report, this lack "is one of the biggest obstacles to Haiti, to meet the most basic standards of human rights. A historical legacy of inequality, an governance without authority or corrupt and persistent levels of extreme poverty have contributed to the intrinsic inability of successive Haitian governments, to provide drinking water to its population."

Haitian Cholera Outbreak Seems to be Spreading in Port-au-Prince (The Wall Street Journal 11/10/10)
Aid workers say that floods caused by Hurricane Tomas last week likely accelerated the spread of the waterborne bacterium that causes cholera. Partners In Health, a health-care nonprofit that has long operated in Haiti, is posting regular updates of the situation on its website.

Medical Workers Say Haiti Needs Money Now to Recover (WBUR - Boston’s NPR affiliate 11/10/10)
Medical officials are predicting that cholera will become a way of life in Haiti over the next few years, and that the disease could kill as many people as the January 12th earthquake did. Ten months after that earthquake, reconstruction has barely begun. And while more than $1 billion in US emergency aid has reached Haiti, large installments of the $1.5 billion in long-term aid have not reached Haiti – little to none of which has been delivered.

Dr. Joia Mukherjee, PIH’s medical director, thinks the US should send that money to the Haitian government now.

Spread of Cholera in Haitian Camps – Interview with PIH’s Joia Mukherjee (BBC News 11/10/10)
As cholera spreads into the settlement camps in and around Port-au-Prince it is crucial that the outside world offer medical support to Haiti in order to curb a larger outbreak. PIH’s Dr. Mukherjee says, “It [cholera] will spread,” because the country lacks the infrastructure to deal with this type of epidemic. Only a small percent of the country’s 10 million citizens – less than 30 percent – has access to proper sanitation, to clean water and a proper way to store human waste.

Haitians brought to Philadelphia area for quake care found themselves adrift (Philadelphia Inquirer 11/10/10) 
 In September, seven months after leaving Haiti, several seriously ill and injured Haitians were evacuated and moved into two homes in Germantown, PA. Partners In Health intervened in response to concerns about the patients' well-being from Philadelphia-area Haitian Americans. Today, the evacuees are doing well, but their stories illustrate the complexity of giving aid, and how the distance between good intentions and good follow-through can be as great as the miles between Haiti and Philadelphia.  

Cholera Cases Spur Containment Efforts In Haiti (NPR Morning Edition 11/08/2010)
Health officials in Haiti are investigating more than a hundred suspected cases of cholera in Port-au-Prince. Aid agencies and the government are scrambling to try to contain it. Dr. Anany Prospero with Partners in Health explains that the cholera treatment centers will be used to assess possible cholera cases, provide initial treatment and refer the more serious cases to a local hospital.

Cholera confirmed for resident of Haiti's capital (AP 11/08/2010)
Living conditions in Port-au-Prince's earthquake camps have "deteriorated as a result of the storm," Boston-based Partners in Health said Monday. "Standing water, mud, lack of garbage collection, and limited sanitation availability make the camps a potential flashpoint for cholera outbreak," the group said … Public health experts, including U.N. Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti Paul Farmer, who co-founded Partners in Health, have called for an aggressive investigation into the origin of the outbreak.

For Haiti, No Relief in Sight (Newsweek 11/08/2010)
Starting in 2002, the Bush administration conducted a sustained campaign to block aid from reaching the Haitian government. “Our government started giving all of its aid directly to NGOs,” says Paul Farmer, U.N. deputy special envoy to Haiti. “And our policies influenced those of other countries and international financial groups.”

U.S. had a role in Haiti's dirty water (St. Petersburg Times 11/7/10)
Reports on the current cholera outbreak that has killed 442 people in Haiti tend to follow the same basic narrative: unexpected disaster hits helpless nation while American-financed aid groups come to the rescue. However, a water report co-written by Partners In Health states that “the United States actively impeded the Haitian government's capacity to fulfill Haitians' human right to water.” 

Bearing Witness: Girls and Women in Haiti’s Camps (World Pulse Magazine 11/04/2010)
When Didi Bertrand Farmer, Director of the Community Health Program for Partners In Health-Rwanda, returned to Haiti, she was unprepared for what she saw in the tent cities: an increase in sexual violence; mothers forced to leave their vulnerable daughters; young girls, pregnant as a result of rape.

Experts: Did UN troops infect Haiti?
(AP 11/3/10)
"That sounds like politics to me, not science," Dr. Paul Farmer, a U.N. deputy special envoy to Haiti and a noted expert on poverty and medicine, said of the reluctance to delve further into what caused the outbreak. "Knowing where the point source is — or source, or sources — would seem to be a good enterprise in terms of public health."

Storm threatens fragile Haiti (USA Today 11/3/10)
Roads in the rural areas are so poor that aid workers from Partners In Health abandoned their off-road vehicles for donkeys to carry supplies to the mountainous Poste Pierrot district, where 18 people had died from cholera, PIH Chief of Mission Louise Ivers said. The storm is likely to worsen conditions, she said.

Death and dirty water: Cholera’s grim march through Haiti (The Toronto Star, 10/29/2010)
The good news: the number of admissions at Saint Nicolas has slowed, says Patrick Almazor, the Partners in Health director for the Artibonite region.

Rebuilding Haiti, Better Than Before (NPR Talk of the Nation 10/28/2010)
Dr. Joia Mukherjee, chief medical officer for the group Partners In Health, also a professor with Harvard Medical School discusses the cholera outbreak in Haiti and the efforts to rebuild the devastated nation.

Dartmouth Calls On Community For Help (WPTZ 5 10/28/2010)
The Dartmouth College Haiti Response team sent 6,000 pounds of supplies to Haiti to help with the Cholera outbreak. The team chose to give the supplies to Partners In Health because they trusted the organization and knew the supplies would get to Haiti immediately.

Cholera Outbreak Highlights Clean Water Crisis
(IPS 10/28/2010)
The percentage of the population without access to safe drinking water increased by seven percent from 1990 to 2005, according to a 2008 report by Partners In Health, a medical organisation currently responding to the cholera outbreak in Haiti's central region.

At Cholera Epicenter, Chaos, But Signs Of Control (NPR 10/28/2010)
Dr. Patrick Almazor says it's no longer just a problem in this northwestern city — it's where people — and the bacteria — go next. Almazor works for Partners in Health, a medical aid group that helps run St. Nicholas and two other hospitals in the region. He says the crowded capital of Port-au-Prince, just 40 miles to the south, is a sitting target.

Helping Haiti Help Itself (Harvard Crimson 10/28/2010)
Though some well-meaning NGOs and aid may provide temporary relief, there are a few organizations that should set an example for the framework between immediate care and lasting development and integration into the country.

Cholera outbreak in Haiti: How to help (USA Today 7 10/27/2010)
Partners In Health is also helping Haitian cholera victims get access to medical care and clean water.

Partners in Health Physician on Haiti: "Cholera Will Not Go Away Until Underlying Situations that Make People Vulnerable Change" (Democracy Now 10/26/2010)
The Haitian government says a cholera outbreak is slowing down, but experts are warning the disease could remain for many years. At least 259 people have died, and over 3,300 have been infected. We speak with Dr. Evan Lyon, a physician with the group Partners in Health who has spent years working in Haiti.

Locating the Cause of Cholera (St. Petersburg Times 10/26/2010)
It is also possible the disease came from outside the country, said Joia Mukherjee, medical director for Partners in Health. That was the case of a similarly sudden surge of the disease in Peru in the 1990s, the source of which turned out to be the holds of ships, she said.

Health Officials Expect Cholera to Spread in Haitian Capital (Wall Street Journal 10/26/2010)
“The numbers we're seeing every day are more or less the same," said PIH’s Dr. Louise Ivers, the group's mission chief in Haiti. She warned cholera could spread quickly in the capital because of crowded conditions and the lack of clean water and sanitation. "People are still living in desperate situations," said Dr. Ivers.

Haiti’s cholera outbreak is easing, but danger isn't over (AP 10/25/2010)
A cholera outbreak showed signs of easing Monday after killing more than 250 people in a sweep through rural Haiti, but experts warned that the earthquake-devastated country's first bout with the disease in decades is far from over. Water purification tablets and oral rehydration salts — used to counteract potentially lethal dehydration caused by diarrhea — have been widely distributed in the region where the river or rainwater remain the only water source for many, said Dr. Louise Ivers, an official with the aid group Partners in Health.

River may be Source of Haiti Cholera (CBS News 10/26/2010)
As the CDC works closely with Haitian authorities to track the cholera outbreak, health officials believe the Artibonite River could be the source. Dr. Koji Nakashima of Partners in Health speaks about the devastation that has hit the St. Marc region, where thousands of cholera cases have been reported. Dr. Jon LaPook reports from Port-au-Prince.

Cholera in Haiti (Wall Street Journal 10/25/2010)
So far, the handful of cases reported in the city have been identified as travelers from the Artibonite area, where the disease was first reported. Here’s a map of where the outbreak is occurring from Partners in Health, the public-health group that has long operated in Haiti.
 
Amid Cholera Outbreak in Haiti, Fear and Misery (New York Times 10/25/2010)
Inside the courtyard of St. Nicholas Hospital, beyond the gate with the handwritten sign stating “Diarrhea Emergency Only,” lies a grim but unusually orderly scene at the epicenter of this country’s unexpected cholera epidemic… About 600 patients with intense diarrhea and vomiting are being seen at St. Nicholas Hospital daily, a facility jointly run by the Haitian government and Partners in Health.
 
Cholera In Haiti Here To Stay, Experts Say (NPR 10/25/2010)
Experts are wondering if cholera will make its way to the crowded tent cities and slums of Port-au-Prince. The government and public health agencies are planning for a worst-case scenario, which Dr. Joia Mukherjee of Partners in Health describes as "a widespread epidemic in a really poor city that's home to 2.5 million people."

Locating the Cause of Cholera (St. Petersburg Times 10/26/2010)
It is also possible the disease came from outside the country, said Joia Mukherjee, medical director for Partners in Health. That was the case of a similarly sudden surge of the disease in Peru in the 1990s, the source of which turned out to be the holds of ships, she said.
 
Cholera: Inevitable Spread to Port-au-Prince (ABC News 10/25/2010)
Nearly 600 patients at St. Nicholas hospital in St.-Marc are triaged each day and 400 of those are hospitalized, according to Partners in Health, a nonprofit health group that operates the hospital in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Health.
 
Good News in Haiti: Cholera Outbreak Seems To Be Stabilizing (Tonic 10/25/2010)
Hôpital Saint Nicolas in St. Marc, which is operated by Partners in Health (PIH) in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Health, hospitalized 300 patients on Sunday. "What we do see are slightly less severe cases of the disease when people arrive at the hospital," says PIH's Haiti Chief of Mission Dr. Louise Ivers. "When they arrive, they are still ambulatory and at that stage, more responsive to the oral rehydration."
 
Haiti cholera outbreak 'stabilizing' (Christian Science Monitor 10/25/2010)
"The United States actively impeded the Haitian government’s capacity to fulfill Haitians' human right to water through its actions, thus breaching its duty to respect human rights."
 
Haiti Cholera Outbreak: How You Can Help (Huffington Post 10/25/2010)
Partners In Health is also helping Haitian cholera victims get access to medical care and clean water. Supporters can donate online to help Partners In Health save lives and prevent the spread of the cholera epidemic.

Delivering Aid to Fight Cholera Outbreak in Haiti (Santa Barbara Independent 10/25/2010)
Partners In Health has requested materials to treat cholera, a diarrheal disease, which can become fatal within hours as a patient becomes dehydrated. The materials include IV sets and solutions, oral rehydration solutions for adults and children, antibiotics, soap, bleach, masks, gloves, and water purification tablets

In Haiti, cholera could heighten earthquake misery (Miami Herald 10/25/2010)
In a promising development, aid group Partners in Health said hospital management was improving in the city at the center of the initial outbreak, St. Marc, which is about a 60-mile (95-kilometer) drive northwest of Haiti. Just 300 patients were hospitalized on Saturday, a number that has decreased by the end of each day.

Cholera Toll Tops 250 in Haiti
(Wall Street Journal 10/25/2010)
"There has been a slight trend toward people in less severe stages of dehydration," Chief Medical Officer Joia Mukherjee said. "To me that means our community-based strategy is working." The group is conducting a campaign to urge people to wash their hands regularly and take other preventive measures. Community health workers are looking for new cases, providing soap and urging people to wash their hands and drink only clean water, PIH said.

Haiti works to halt cholera outbreak
(USA Today 10/25/2010)
Haiti has not had a cholera outbreak in decades, so the population has no immunity, said Dr. Joia Mukherjee, chief medical director of Partners In Health, a Boston-based organization that helps the Haitian health ministry run many of the country's hospitals.

Terrifying race against time with cholera in Haiti (BBC News 10/24/2010)
Dr Koji Nakashima from Partners in Health, a group working with the Haitian health authorities throughout the country, has spent all day administering intravenous drips to patients. "The terrifying thing about this disease is how quickly it can kill," he says. "Patients come in and they're unresponsive. They don't have the resources to get here quickly - they come by donkey, on foot. It is a very challenging environment."

Haiti's cholera outbreak spreads, adding to worries it will reach refugee camps in capital (AP 10/24/2010)
Partners in Health, a U.S.-based humanitarian group, said Saturday that another 10 cases were reported in Gonaives, the largest city in the Artibonite region.

Cholera outbreak creeps closer to Haiti's capital (Miami Herald 10/24/2010)
A spreading cholera outbreak in rural Haiti threatened to outpace aid groups as they stepped up efforts Saturday hoping to keep the disease from reaching the squalid camps of earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince.

Death toll rises from Haitian cholera outbreak (CNN 10/24/2010)
Sandrellie Seraphin, who works for Partners in Health and the Clinton Foundation, visited the hospital Wednesday. "It's terrible," she told CNN by phone, describing the crowds of people trying to get help. "There's a great fear among the people" about the disease.

Cholera kills 140 in Haiti (Peninsula Daily 10/24/2010)
There's no reason to anticipate that this wouldn't spread widely,'' said Joia Mukherjee, chief medical officer for Partners in Health, a US relief organization that runs three hospitals in the area. The acute bacterial illness, spread primarily through contaminated drinking water, has struck more than 2000 people throughout the valley along the Artibonite River, with the highest number in the port city of St Marc.

Haiti on Precipice of Cholera Disaster (The Toronto Star 10/23/2010)
“Yes, I have confirmed that today,” says Claude Surena, conveying the grimmest possible news. “There are five cases confirmed in Port-au-Prince.”

Haiti Fears Cholera Will Spread in Capital (New York Times, 10/23/2010)
“We tried to make the case not to focus exclusively on Port-au-Prince,” said PIH's Andrew Marx, noting that considerable effort has been made to provide clean water in the capital, but rural areas remain lacking.

Cholera Found in Haiti's Capital (Wall Street Journal, 10/23/2010)
The first cases of cholera were identified in Haiti's capital Saturday, intensifying worries that the disease could reach the large camps that still house thousands of people displaced by a devastating earthquake 10 months ago.

Health crisis in Haiti: Cholera kills 194, sickens thousands (Miami Herald 10/23/2010)
PIH reported Saturday that the number of new cases at the hospital in St. Marc -- where the ill have gone to seek treatment -- on Friday was lower than new cases on Thursday. But with only three days of data, it isn't possible to say that this represents a positive trend, PIH said.
 
Cholera outbreak spreads in Haiti
(St. Petersburg Times 10/23/2010)
PIH spokesman Andrew Marx. "We have people crowding in the halls. We have people being treated outside the hospital,'' he said. Other health care facilities in the region have also been overwhelmed, including the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deshapelles, he said.
 
LaPook on Haiti Cholera: I Fear a 'Major Disaster' (CBS News 10/23/2010)
When I visited this camp last April, I spoke to Dr. Dubique Kobel, a Haitian-born, Cuban med school-educated physician who is the medical director of the park, which is supported by Partners in Health. Back then there were about 48,000 people. Now Dr. Kobel says there are "over fifty thousand" — exact numbers are hard to come by in Haiti.

The cholera outbreak in Haiti, BBC World News America
PIH's Dr. Joia Mukherjee was interviewed by the BBC to discuss the cholera outbreak in Haiti. Dr. Mukherjee covers the scope of the cholera outbreak, treatment of ill patients, and containment of the disease in a BBC segment.

A new menace for Haiti as cholera spreads, Miami Herald
As healthcare professionals struggled Friday to stem a terrifying cholera outbreak that has already left more than 150 Haitians dead, U.S. and world health experts issued this ominous warning: It's going to get worse. "No reason to anticipate this wouldn't spread widely throughout Haiti,'" said Joia Mukherjee, chief medical officer for Partners In Health.

Emergence of cholera in Haiti raises alarms, Boston Globe
Hospitals staffed by doctors and nurses affiliated with Boston-based Partners in Health sit at the epicenter of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed more than 150, sickened as many as 2,000, and begun to sweep across the impoverished countryside.

Aid workers scramble to contain Haiti cholera outbreak, Los Angeles Times
"There's no reason to anticipate that this wouldn't spread widely," said Joia Mukherjee, chief medical officer for Partners In Health.

Cholera Outbreak Kills 150 in Haiti, New York Times
The earthquake left the country dotted with relief agencies that “have already shown their chops in providing clean water,” said PIH Chief Medical Officer.

Deadly Cholera Outbreak in Haiti, CBS News
Unsanitary conditions in disaster-torn Haiti have led to an outbreak of the deadly disease cholera, which has sickened more than 1,500 residents and left another 142 dead, reports Dr. Jon LaPook of CBS News. The segment features and interview with PIH Chief Medical Officer Joia Mukherjee.

Deaths from Cholera Top 150 in Haiti, Wall Street Journal
International health officials rushed to contain a large outbreak of cholera in Haiti, concerned that the deadly disease could spread into camps that still house thousands of people displaced by a devastating earthquake 10 months ago. At the 200-bed St. Nicholas Hospital in St. Marc, a coastal city in the Artibonite region, 500 people flooded in Thursday night with symptoms of cholera and a further 437 came in Friday morning, according to Partners in Health, a U.S.-based organization that helps run the hospital. The group has begun a major campaign to educate people on washing their hands and other prevention measures.
 
Cholera Hits Haiti, and Public-Health Experts Worry it Will Spread, Wall Street Journal

As the WSJ reports, what public-health experts say is the first big post-quake disease outbreak has now been confirmed: a cholera epidemic in the Artibonite region of the country. The area has become home to a lot of earthquake refugees, and even before the quake obtaining clean water was a problem, the paper says, citing a spokesman for public-health group Partners in Health, which has a longtime presence in Haiti.
 
Death toll rises from Haiti cholera outbreak, CNN
A fast-moving cholera outbreak in Haiti has claimed at least 194 lives, according to a U.N. spokeswoman. The country's health ministry is reporting another 2,364 cases from the recent outbreak, said Imogen Wall, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Sandrellie Seraphin, who works for Partners in Health and the Clinton Foundation, visited the hospital Wednesday. "It's terrible," she told CNN by phone, describing the crowds of people trying to get help. "There's a great fear among the people" about the disease.

 Cholera in Haiti: a view from a first responder, CNN
We woke to some disturbing news, today.  Our friends at Partners in Health emailed to say that there were people arriving at St. Marc hospital in droves, sick with diarrhea and that people were dying from dehydration at an alarming rate.
 
Public Health Expert Warns Cholera Outbreak Could Spread, NPR Blog

The chief medical officer for Partners In Health, Dr. Joia Mukherjee, told reporters this afternoon she is concerned the cholera outbreak may continue to spread. As of this afternoon, her organization is reporting more than 2,000 cases of cholera and 160 deaths at Haitian health care facilities. 
 
Health Workers Scramble to Keep Cholera out of Crowded Camps, IPS

At least 160 people have died this week from an outbreak of cholera in the central Artibonite region, according to Zanmi Lasante, the Haitian arm of renowned health organisation Partners in Health.
 
Haiti in a time of Cholera, Global Post
Fathers became nurses and children lay side by side with grandparents as a deluge of violently sick cholera patients overwhelmed the staff at St. Nicholas hospital in this small Haitian town.  “I’ve talked to all of my colleagues who are Haitian and they’ve never seen anything like this, on this scale, before,” said Koji Nakashina, an American doctor with Partners in Health, who was working at the hospital on Thursday. “There’s still a lot coming in.”
 
Aid Groups Race to Stop Cholera Outbreak in Haiti, AOL News
Health officials in Haiti and the United States have confirmed that an outbreak of cholera has killed more than 100 people and sent hundreds more to the hospital in a rural area of the earthquake-battered country. "We're distinctly alarmed," Andrew Marx, spokesman for Partners in Health, one of the largest aid organizations in Haiti, told AOL News today. "It's an all-hands-on-deck effort. We can't get out ahead of it at this point, but we need to get out there and really mount the kind of response in terms of education, the distribution of clean water and getting resources to hospitals so we're able to treat and save people.

 

Media coverage of PIH's earthquake relief efforts in Haiti:

Recovering the Dead in Haiti (New York Times, LENS blog, 6/11/2010)
New York Times LENS blogger Angel Franco shares the story of one Haitian man's efforts to recover the bodies of the earthquake victims in his community.

Deadline Nears For Haitians' Deportation Reprieve (Associated Press, 6/11/2010)
The deadline for Haitians in the U.S. to apply for temporary protected status is July 20, 2010; TPS will allow Haitians to stay legally for eighteen months.

Haiti: Solidarity, not charity, needed (Green Left, 6/6/2010)
Montreal-based nurse Scott Weinstein talks about his impressions of PIH's work in Haiti after returning from his stint as a medical volunteer in Port-au-Prince.

U.S. Troops Withdraw From Haiti (NPR, 6/3/2010)
Host Michel Martin talks with David Harland of the United Nations Peacekeeping Department about where the recovery effort stands now in Haiti.

The immense human tragedy 700 miles from Miami (Psychology Today, 5/28/2010)
Dr. Dennis Rosen reflects on his nine days as a volunteer at HUEH, Hôpital Universitaire d'État d'Haïti.

Mental health needs of quake survivors pose risks to Haiti's recovery (Catholic News Service, 5/27/2010)
"'Vulnerable people

Dr. Paul Farmer sharing a friendly moment with one of his staff.

Paul's Promise

As we mourn the passing of our beloved Dr. Paul Farmer, we also honor his life and legacy.

PIH Founders - Jim Kim, Ophelia Dahl, Paul Farmer

Bending the Arc

More than 30 years ago, a movement began that would change global health forever. Bending the Arc is the story of Partners In Health's origins.