Health workers are hopeful that the United Nations has made a critical step forward by finally acknowledging its role in the cholera outbreak.
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A USA appeals court has ruled that the United Nations can not be sued in American courts for the introduction of cholera in the Caribbean state of Haiti.
For the past six years, the United Nations has repeatedly claimed there is no irrefutable evidence that U.N. peacekeepers introduced cholera into Haiti six years ago, dismissing mounting claims by scientists to the contrary.
The group is among several organizations that have filed a federal class action lawsuit in NY seeking compensation for thousands of cholera victims who blame the United Nations for bringing the disease to their country. Close to 10,000 people died after infected bacteria, reportedly passed on by a group of Nepalese troops aiding the natural disaster relief effort that entered the water supply through an open sewer pipe.
In Friday’s remarks, Haq stopped short of acknowledging U.N.’s direct responsibility for introducing cholera in Haiti.
While the number of cholera cases has been significantly reduced from the initial outbreak in 2010, the fact that the preventable disease is still routinely sickening and killing Haitians is galling to many.
“The Secretary General is actively working to develop a package that would provide material assistance and support to those Haitians most directly affected by cholera”, the statement said. The organization reports that there have been more some 10,000 cholera-related deaths since the outbreak in 2010, though Doctors Without Borders have argued that the actual death toll is likely higher.
The announcement comes after a United States appeals court on Thursday turned down an appeal by Haitian victims of the epidemic.
Haq added that that the finding calls for a “significant new set of United Nations actions” and that a “new response will be presented publicly within the next two months”.
Cholera, which had not been documented in Haiti in nearly 100 years before the 2010 outbreak, is an infection that causes severe diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death, and is caused by poor sanitation.
The cholera epidemic first struck Haiti in October 2010, less than one year after the disastrous quake that worsened longstanding poverty and instability and has left the country reeling years to this day.
The bacterial disease, which is spread through contaminated food or water, can quickly overwhelm areas with inadequately treated sewage and drinking water, a common problem after a natural disaster strikes.
The UN acknowledgment comes after top officials were provided a draft 19-page report by an adviser criticizing their handling of the cholera outbreak. It showed up some 10 months after a devastating natural disaster in the south of Haiti, deepening the country’s misery at a time when it was ill-equipped to cope with another crisis.
Haiti is among the poorest nations in the world and less than one quarter of the population has access to toilets.
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Concannon says the U.N.’s position has been an “affront to [the] dignity” of Haitians: “This big organization that has been tasked by the world to promote human rights and accountability and the rule of law has been denying something that was so clearly undeniable”.
