haiti 17 days after quake

A glance at the latest from Haiti on Friday, 17 days after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince, and left an estimated 200,000 dead throughout the country:

WATER AND SANITATION

The U.N. says distribution and storage capacity for water remain limited. Water is reaching more than 300,000 people through 133 distribution points in Port-au-Prince, says the Pan American Health Organization.

Setting up latrines for the makeshift camps of homeless has gone slowly. “Sanitation in camps remains a major concern,” the U.N. says.

FOOD

The U.N. World Food Program estimates 2 million Haitians will require regular food aid until December. It reports having reached almost 600,000 with more than 5.4 million rations, equivalent to more than 16 million meals.

Seventy-five more trucks are heading from the Dominican Republic to Haiti to help distribute food to a wider area, and the first seaborne landing craft came ashore with 1,000 metric tons of food, the U.N.’s World Food Program reports.

HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Haitian and international medical teams badly need more anesthetics, antibiotics, bandages and dressings, the World Health Organization says. Some 200,000 people need post-surgery follow-up, and an undetermined number of others still have untreated injuries, it says.

The global health agency also reports a growing number of diarrhea cases, as well as unconfirmed reports of measles and tetanus cases in resettlement camps, a worrying development because of the high population density in the camps.

SHELTER

An estimated 1 million made homeless by the quake need to be housed temporarily in 200,000 tents, but only 2,000 tents have been distributed thus far, the International Organization for Migration reports. It says some 51,000 tents are expected in Haiti in the coming days.

It says final work on latrines, showers and electricity is under way for the first organized tent settlement — for some 3,500 displaced people in the Port-au-Prince district of Tabarre.

International agencies estimate 262,000 displaced have left the devastated capital for other areas of Haiti.

Source: Associated Press