Cholera is sweeping Haiti, pushing hospitals and sanitation efforts closer to the brink as local gang violence and war in Ukraine drive up the number of hungry and desperate people in one of the world’s most volatile nations.
While the highest level of food insecurity, classified as “famine,” was recorded in Haiti for the first time in October, some 4.7 million people — more than a third of the population — now face a “severe” food crisis. Children who are acutely malnourished are at least three times more likely to die if they contract cholera, while response efforts are hampered by ongoing insecurity.
“Haiti can’t wait. This country is in a crisis it hasn’t seen before,” World Food Programme Country Director Jean-Martin Bauer told Devex.