Cholera Vaccination Campaign Update

On Monday, July 16th, GHESKIO and Partners in Health announced that the pilot project to vaccinate 100,000 Haitians against cholera successfully reached almost 90% of the target population with both doses of the oral vaccine. Success of the pilot project has garnered government support to integrate the vaccination program into the nationwide Haitian cholera strategy, focusing on at risk populations.

Though the cholera outbreak has decreased, this spring Haiti saw another 30,000 cases and 250 deaths from cholera. To cover Haiti’s population of 10 million, the pilot project would need to be scaled up 100 times, and Partners in Health says the vaccine costs $2.13. The next step is for Haitian allies to begin raising the money necessary for the large-scale vaccination campaign to commence.

Read the full NPR article here.

Frisner Guerrier, 42, thought he was going to die after contracting cholera earlier this year. The ice deliverer has since become one of 100,000 people in Haiti to be vaccinated for the deadly disease. [photo from Catherine Porter/Toronto Star