Pre-quake
Haiti already had one of the most destructed environments in the world when the quake hit January 12th. As I have learned recently, the leading cause of environmental destruction in Haiti is due to the number one factor affecting about 80% of the Haitian population; poverty. Haitians have changed the environmental landscape of their side of the island by cutting down trees to sell them as coal. For most, this is their only way of survival. And when you have to choose between feeding yourself or your family the choice is obvious. Thus there is little reason to blame Haitians for the environmental damage pre-quake. This environmental destruction came with consequences in the form of ruthless floods that afflicted Haiti in 2004 and 2000 and killed thousands. A grim reality of the side effects of cutting down trees; with little obstacles, water rushes fiercely downstream getting into people’s homes, leaving people homeless and powerless to water borne diseases.
Post-quake
The environmental destruction in Haiti post-quake has reached apocalyptic proportions, with the devastation of virtually an entire country. This destruction will obviously add more poverty and disease (including mental illnesses and emotional trauma). Recently I listened to a journalist discussing the fact that many people who survived the earthquake had to have amputations because of infections that were not treated on time, “Haiti will be a nation of amputees” described the journalist from NBC. The earthquake will also leave a legacy of respiratory illnesses similar to 911 but perhaps less severe.
Diseases that may aggressively emerge as a consequence of the earthquake:
1. Measles ( experienced it, very painful)
2. Asthma
3. Hepatitis A
4. Mental illnesses (including major depression/depressive disorder)
5. Dengue
6. Typhoid (experienced it, hospitalized 3 weeks)
7. Malnutrition
8. Increase of HIV
Though several organizations are working day and night to help Haitians stay alive, I predict the number of deaths due to health complications will increase. My heart goes to the children that must stand all this catastrophe around them. But one thing that is that is true of all humans is that we can adapt to our environment with the help of our ancient survival instincts and resilience.
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ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
"An MSF cargo plane carrying 12 tons of lifesaving medical supplies has been turned away three times from Port-au-Prince airport since Sunday night, despite assurances of its ability to land."
Port-au-Prince, January 19, 2010 РA Doctors Without Borders/M̩decins Sans Fronti̬res (MSF) cargo plane carrying 12 tons of medical equipment, including drugs, surgical supplies and two dialysis machines, was turned away three times from Port-au-Prince airport since Sunday night despite repeated assurances of its ability to land there. This 12-ton cargo was part of the contents of an earlier plane carrying a total of 40 tons of supplies that was blocked from landing on Sunday morning. Since January 14, MSF has had five planes diverted from the original destination of Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic. These planes carried a total of 85 tons of medical and relief supplies.
ReplyDelete“We have had five patients in Martissant health center die for lack of the medical supplies that this plane was carrying,” said Loris de Filippi, emergency coordinator for the MSF’s Choscal Hospital in Cite Soleil. “I have never seen anything like this. Any time I leave the operating theater I see lots of people desperately asking to be taken for surgery. Today, there are 12 people who need lifesaving amputations at Choscal Hospital. We were forced to buy a saw in the market to continue amputations. We are running against time here.”
More than 500 patients in need of surgery have been transferred from MSF health center in the Martissant neighborhood to Choscal Hospital with more than 230 operated on since Thursday. MSF teams have been working since the first hours after the earthquake and these cargo shipments are vital to continue their ability to provide essential medical care to victims of the disaster. In five different locations in the city, MSF has given primary care to an estimated 3,000 people in the capital and performed more than 400 surgeries.
“It is like working in a war situation,” said Rosa Crestani, MSF medical coordinator for Choscal Hospital. “We don’t have any more morphine to manage pain for our patients. We cannot accept that planes carrying lifesaving medical supplies and equipment continue to be turned away while our patients die. Priority must be given to medical supplies entering the country.”
Many of the patients have been pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings are at grave risk of death from septicemia and the consequences of “crush syndrome,” a condition where damaged muscle tissue releases toxins into the bloodstream and can lead to death from kidney failure. Dialysis machines are vital to keeping patients alive with this condition.
Another two planes carrying a total of 26 MSF aid workers were diverted to Dominican Republic. MSF has successfully landed five planes with a total of 135 tons of supplies into Port-au-Prince. Another 195 tons of supplies will need to be granted permission to land in the airport in the coming days in order to continue MSF’s scale up of its medical relief operation in Haiti.
More than 700 MSF staff are working to provide emergency medical care to earthquake survivors in and around Port-au-Prince. MSF teams are currently working in Choscal Hospital, Martissant Health Center, Trinite Hospital, Carrefour hospital, Jacmel Hospital, and are establishing a 100-bed inflatable hospital in the Delmas area. They are running exploratory assessment missions to other locations outside the capital as well.
When will haitians get a break? This is breaking my heart!
ReplyDelete"Just days after the devastating earthquake, another strong earthquake hit Haiti on Wednesday morning (4:33 pm IST), sending panic-stricken people running helter-skelter.
The earthquake was of 6.1 magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey, and hit about 56 kilometres northwest of the capital of Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 22 kilometres.
The damages caused by the earthquake has not been ascertained as yet, even as Haiti continues to come to terms with the damages and loss caused by the earthquake that struck the country eight days ago, on 12th January.
There was no immediate reports of damage from the quake, which struck after daybreak.
Haitian officials say the death toll from the January 12 magnitude 7 quake was likely to be between 100,000 and 200,000. Fearing new damage from aftershocks, thousands of people have been sleeping in streets in the capital Port-au-Prince since then."
Why were Francesco's comments removed?
ReplyDeleteHe removed them himself. He combined his previous posts
ReplyDelete