Rioting in Haiti threatens cholera treatment

Doctors in Haiti are warning the recent violent unrest in the devastated nation is preventing cholera victims from getting treatment.

On Monday, at least two people were killed in clashes between protesters and UN troops. More than a thousand people have so far died from the water-borne disease. Many Haitians blame the UN’s own peacekeepers for bringing cholera with them.

Doctor Esther Sterk from Medecins Sans Frontieres said: ‘‘There is a big problem for our patients to come to the centre. So the patients are blocked. So they are either dying at home or they come to our centre extremely unwell.’‘

Renewed rioting has been reported in the capital Port-au-Prince, with presidential elections due at the end of the month approaching fast.

After January’s catastrophic earthquake much of Haiti remains in abject poverty, with almost no access to clean water, sanitation and health care.

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