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UN seeks support for cholera outbreak

Published:Wednesday | February 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Antonine Fizamey, 47, left, wails in grief after her mother, Virginia Sencilna, 67, became gravely ill with cholera, which has spread into Gonaives, Haiti, from the surrounding areas. - File

UNITED NATIONS (CMC):

The United Nations is holding a special meeting with donor countries seeking support for its campaign against the cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed more than 4,000 persons since the first case was detected last October.

The United Nations said that it has only been able to receive less than the US$175 million required to deal with the outbreak that is slowly declining in one of the world's poorest nation.

Latest figures from the Haitian government cite more than 231,000 reported cases and more than 4,500 cholera deaths.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs says it is critical to strengthen treatment programme, adding that the shortage of non-governmental agencies to treat the sick in difficult to reach mountain villages is very worrisome.