Cholera, A Success Story for Haiti

On Friday February 4th, Haiti’s Ministry of Health (MOH) marked the third anniversary since the last documented case of cholera in the country. This three-year anniversary is the benchmark used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare that a country has eliminated cholera. Haiti’s 2010 cholera outbreak was one of the worst outbreaks in the world in modern history with over 1 million people affected. Cholera is caused by a bacteria that lives in contaminated water and when contracted by people causes severe diarrhea and frequently death from dehydration.  However, thanks to the dedication of many partners in Haiti including the Haitian Ministry of Health, GHESKIO  and Weill Cornell faculty and many others, Haiti has not experienced a single case of cholera in three years.

Weill Cornell faculty members Drs. Jean Pape and Vanessa Rouzier who are based in Haiti at GHESKIO played a key role throughout the effort. GHESKIO provided care to those who developed cholera, worked with neighborhood groups to provide drinking water to the most vulnerable, and spear-headed national anti-cholera vaccination programs, which vaccinated millions in Haiti against the disease. The GHESKIO team teamed with the MOH and other non-profit organizations to provide training, prevention, and treatment protocols that were scaled up nationally.

More information on this effort and its success can be read in Dr. Jean Pape and Dr. Vanessa Rouzier's 2014 piece in the New England Journal of Medicine, titled "Embracing Oral Cholera Vaccine — The Shifting Response to Cholera." 

Announcement of Ceremony Recognizing Three Years of Haiti Being Cholera-Free.