Report
Links
UN to Cholera in Haiti, South Asia Strain, Bad Practices,
Denials
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 4 -- The much
delayed report to the UN on whether it was
the proximate cause of the cholera outbreak in Haiti was given to
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier this week, and was released by
the UN after 5 pm on Wednesday, here.
The
report
concludes that “the evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion
that the source of the Haiti cholera outbreak was due to
contamination of the Meye Tributary of the Artibonite River with a
pathogenic strain of current South Asian type Vibrio cholerae as a
result of human activity.”
The
report also
chides the UN for its sanitation practices, recommending
1)
The
Haiti cholera outbreak highlights the risk of transmitting
cholera during mobilization of population for emergency response. To
prevent introduction of cholera into non-endemic countries, United
Nations personnel and emergency responders traveling from cholera
endemic areas should either receive a prophylactic dose of
appropriate antibiotics before departure or be screened with a
sensitive method to confirm absence of asymptomatic carriage of
Vibrio cholerae, or both.
2)
United
Nations missions commonly operate in emergencies with
concurrent cholera epidemics. All United Nations personnel and
emergency responders traveling to emergencies should receive
prophylactic antibiotics, be immunized against cholera with currently
available oral vaccines, or both, in order to protect their own
health and to protect the health of others.
3)
To
prevent introduction of contamination into the local environment,
United Nations installations worldwide should treat fecal waste using
on-site systems that inactivate pathogens before disposal.
The
report is beginning to be called "shifty," for blaming the UN but also
a "confluence of circumstances." Inner
City Press back on
January 11 asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Nesirky
about calls in Haiti for compensation from the UN for cholera.
UN peacekeeper blocks cholera, protection of civilians not shown
From
the
transcript:
Inner
City
Press: And just one other thing, maybe just for a response…
Spokesperson:
Is
this about Haiti?
Inner
City
Press: It is about Haiti. There’s a group there known as SOFA,
the Solidarité des Femmes Haïtiennes. They’ve recently, I
guess
in connection with, or slightly before this one-year anniversary,
they’ve said that – I guess, more explosively, they’ve asked
the Government to somehow indict the UN for – they say – having
brought cholera. But they’ve also raised this issue of compensation
– so I wanted to make sure that the two things – can you, they’re
saying that the UN should pay some compensation for - for cholera.
That’s their claim. They’re a Haitian group, you can – so I
guess I just want to know, what’s the UN response to that? Are they
aware of that call, and what’s their response?
Spokesman
Nesirky
[misidentified
as “Question” in Transcript] -- As you know, the
Secretary-General instituted a panel. Those four experts are working
precisely to establish the source of the outbreak of cholera, which
has not been established so far. That’s their job to do so, to the
extent that they are able to do so, and to report back to the
Secretary-General and the Government of Haiti as quickly as they can.
And to go the next step beyond that is not really helpful at this
point. There is a clear job to do, and that’s the job that the
panel has been asked to carry out as swiftly as possible, and in the
meantime, of course, the key priority is to help those people – you
heard from Mr. [Nigel] Fisher yesterday about the death rates being
lower, but still the number of cases being very high. So this is
something that needs to be tackled as a priority.
Inner
City
Press [misidentified
as
Spokesperson in transcript]: So I understand that the panel
comes first. But I just want to know, I mean maybe you can answer
this — does the idea, in the abstract, of compensation seem
unreasonable to the UN? Depending on what it finds?
Spokesman
Nesirky
[misidentified
as “Question” in Transcript]: Look, I don’t – this is
something that – let’s do things step-by-step. And the most
important thing is to help those in need. You’ve heard extensively,
not just from Mr. Fisher but most recently from Mr. Fisher, on that.
And you also know that this — the four panel members, experts each
in their own right, are working hard to establish precisely what the
source of the outbreak was, if they are able to do so.
And
now they have.
How will the UN respond?
Secrtary
General Ban Ki-moon, setting out on a trip to Bulgaria, has said he
"intends
to
convene a task force within the United Nations system, to study
the findings and recommendations made by the Independent Panel of
Experts to ensure prompt and appropriate follow-up.... On behalf of
the UN family, the Secretary-General reiterates his deepest
sympathies to the victims of the epidemic and their loved ones."
Is that
enough? Watch this site.
* * *
, 
