Boston Globe: Ignoring the plight of the poor in Haiti
Louise C. Ivers, infectious disease physician, senior health and policy adviser for Partners In Health, and associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital

“…Colleagues in the Haitian government, nongovernmental organizations, and bilateral and multilateral agencies have the knowledge and the technical know-how to eliminate transmission of cholera in Haiti, and in doing so could save thousands of lives. However, they lack the funds and the vaccine needed to implement solutions. A 10-year plan to eliminate cholera from Haiti includes a call for major investments in water and sanitation, as well as in health care, hygiene education, and vaccination. Yet, the plan is still largely underfunded. The United Nations remains officially silent on the fact that members of its peacekeeping force inadvertently started the outbreak, and has not provided the kind of financial input toward solving the problem that is commensurate with the organization’s culpability. … That cholera continues ravaging poor communities in Haiti and around the world is a shame on our society — one that we can and must do something about”