cholera

Video

USAID Water and Sanitation Project

The USAID Water and Sanitation (WASH) project works to build the capacity and increase the number of people with access to basic drinking water services. The WASH project targets 5 cholera-prone communes in Haiti (Cap-Haitien, Croix-des-Bouquets, Mirebalais, Jeremie and Les Cayes) and recognizes that the rapid pace of urbanization requires increasing attention to urban services and utilities, particularly in dense peri-urban settlements, secondary cities and towns, which are often served by informal providers that are introduced in the video.

Interagency Story

Combating Cholera in Zimbabwe Through Improved Water Quality

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care declared an outbreak of cholera in Harare, Zimbabwe, on September 5, 2018, when 25 patients were admitted to the Beatrice Road Infectious Disease Hospital. Over six months, the country recorded a total of 10,421 cases of cholera, of which 94 percent were from Harare, and 69 deaths. Cholera outbreaks are often linked to contaminated water supplies, including piped water systems, if water quality is not adequately maintained.  

Global Waters Article

Averting a Cholera Epidemic in the Wake of Dual Natural Disasters

Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall March 15, 2019, it pummeled Mozambique’s fourth-largest city Beira and three neighboring provinces, leaving only 10 percent of the port city intact. An unprecedented cyclone in scope and scale, the storm’s flooding and devastation affected nearly 2 million people in three countries (including Zimbabwe and Malawi) and led to the deaths of approximately 960 people.

Infographic

Infographic: Increasing Access to Improved Water and Sanitation in Haiti

Access to clean water and improved sanitation is fundamental to preventing the spread of water-borne disease like cholera. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Haiti supports the Haitian National Directorate of Potable Water and Sanitation to build and monitor essential water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure and strengthen the national water and sanitation workforce. This infographic details some of their efforts

Activity

Haiti Water and Sanitation Project

The WATSAN project began in December 2017 with the primary goal to reduce the prevalence of cholera and other waterborne diseases by laying foundation for a long-term, sustained effort to increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation in Haiti – this improving the health and well-being of Haitians. Specifically, WATSAN seeks to increase access to sustainable water supply services; increase access to sustainable sanitation services; and strengthen the enabling environment for sustainable delivery, operation, and maintenance of WASH services.

Annual Report Story

Collaborating to Improve Drinking Water in Haiti

Haiti’s vulnerability to natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and flooding have complicated efforts to repair, expand, and sustain access to safe water and sanitation. The low levels of water and sanitation services and poor hygiene practices contributed substantially to the severity and rapid spread of the cholera epidemic in 2010. Hurricane Matthew in 2016 further compromised the fragile WASH sector in affected areas.

Interagency Story

Deploying WASH Technicians to Improve WASH Services

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been working with Haiti’s National Potable Water and Sanitation Directorate (DINEPA in French) to improve drinking water quality in Haiti's rural areas. This work, which began after the start of the cholera outbreak in Haiti in 2010 and continued through 2018, is aligned with the Global Water Strategy Strategic Objective 1: to increase sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, as well as Strategic Objective 4: to strengthen water sector governance and institutions.  

Fact Sheet

Cholera and Handwashing Fact Sheet

This fact sheet provides basic facts about cholera, its transmission, its treatment, and how handwashing and other critical water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) measures can play a role in its prevention.