October 23, 2010
Ottawa, ON
Good morning and thank you for joining me this morning.
As many of you are aware, the Pan American Health Organization or PAHO yesterday confirmed that cholera has broken out in Haiti. In its latest update, available on its website, PAHO is reporting more than 1,500 cases of severe diarrhea and at least 138 deaths in St. Marc, Grande Saline, and Mirebalais. It is important to move quickly and to make sure that organizations such as PAHO can quickly respond to enable local health providers to treat people already infected and to limit the spread of the epidemic to other areas. PAHO is in the process of deploying emergency teams to Haiti as we speak.
In response to this serious situation, yesterday evening, the Prime Minister announced that Canada will provide up to 1 million dollars to help provide needed assistance to help respond to this outbreak and prevent further loss of life.
I am announcing that $450,000 of this $1 million has been allocated against PAHO's initial appeal for assistance.
In addition to PAHO, CIDA will continue to work with experienced humanitarian partners providing assistance in affected regions. The outbreak highlights the ongoing vulnerability of earthquake-affected populations.
Canada will continue to respond to the needs of the people of Haiti who have survived tremendous hardships.
CIDA has also been supporting Canadian and international organizations in the health sector for a number of years and will continue to reinforce the management capacity of health institutions in the Artibonite region to better respond to such health challenges.
Canada and Canadians stand with the Haitian people in their time of need.
