Haiti - IOM Haiti yesterday inaugurated four Treatment Centers for Acute Diarrhea (CTAD) in the Artibonite department, a rural region north of Haiti’s capital that was the epicenter of Haiti’s first cholera outbreak in 2010.

The project aims to support the 10-year plan for the elimination of cholera in Haiti, recently launched by the Government of Haiti and the Ministry of Health, as is part of IOM’s commitment to reinforce the capacity of the government and to improve the access to basic services and the quality of life of its citizens.

Funding for the project was provided by the Community Violence Reduction (CVR) section of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).  IOM has partnered with CVR since 2006 on a wide range of community development and stabilization projects in Haiti. 

The four communes that will benefit from the newly built medical facilities were selected based on their high morbidity and mortality rates, as well as remoteness and lack of access to the most basic services required for preventing and treating cholera.

In addition to the construction of the four treatment centers, the project also focused on reinforcing the capacity of local health staff and community health workers, implementing a comprehensive community outreach program and improving the water and sanitation infrastructure at the community level.  These actions will result in a decrease of cholera cases in the region, as well as in the stabilization of the community and a reduction of violence in the area.

During the opening ceremony, IOM Haiti Chief of Mission, Gregoire Goodstein, remembered the victims of cholera in Haiti: “My thoughts are with those families that remind us every day that the fight against cholera is not over yet, and that it’s imperative to work together for the elimination of the disease in Haiti,” he said.

IOM is currently active in cholera response in the West, South-West and Artibonite departments.  Since 2010, it has carried out a monitoring and rapid response programme that includes the distribution of medical and non-medical items for cholera treatment throughout the country.

IOM has also implemented 37 oral rehydration posts in the Artibonite department, trained over 500 health workers and community agents, and reached almost half a million people with messages on cholera prevention and treatment.

A total of 699,224 suspected cholera cases have been reported since the outbreak in 2010.  Combined international and Haitian efforts to combat cholera in effect since 2011 have cut the incidence of the disease by 50 per cent.

Although the number of new suspected cases has considerably diminished, Haiti is still reporting the highest number of cholera cases in the world.  If current trends are confirmed, an estimated 45,000 cases could be expected this year.

For more information, please contact

Ilaria Lanzoni
IOM Haiti
Email: ilanzoni@iom.int
Tel: +509 3702 5066