Treatment continues without interruption despite post-election unrest
Posted on Dec 10, 2010
Partners In Health and our Haitian sister organization, Zanmi Lasante (ZL), continue to provide treatment around the clock for cholera victims and other patients, even as a wave of sometimes violent protests has shut down most businesses and services across the country.
In Port-au-Prince, Dr. Anany Prosper and other ZL staff have kept the Cholera Treatment Unit (CTU) at the settlement in Parc Jean-Marie Vincent (PJMV) up and running without any interruptions. The settlement is one of the largest in the capital city, with a population of more than 50,000 people. ZL has provided comprehensive primary health care services there since late January, and now operates a 50-bed CTU that regularly admits 35-50 patients a day. Earlier this week Dr. Prosper walked through PJMV, checking on residents recovering from cholera, and encouraging adherence to sanitation guidelines and use of the settlement's safe water supply.
PIH has also taken measures to ensure that essential supplies remain available at the clinic in PJMV, and at our hospitals and health centers across the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite. In anticipation of possible unrest, supply trucks were dispatched to Mirebalais and Hinche just hours before the election results were announced. ZL deliveries from the main warehouse in Port-au-Prince to facilities in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite may resume once the roads are determined to be safe for travel.