April 22, 2010
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric continues their Haiti coverage by looking at conditions in the IDP camps. Couric speaks with Dr. Louis Ivers of Partners in Health, who argues that sanitation, shelter, and security are all inadequate. When Katie Couric asks Dr. Ivers what the problem is, Ivers responds:
“Somebody’s not doing their job right. Because, if this is as good as we can do, it’s certainly not good enough.”
The article notes that in the camp they visited, which is home to 48,000, there are only 114 latrines. That means just one latrine for every 420 people, a far cry from the 1 for every 100 that UNICEF says is the goal.
Ivers tells Couric about the conditions and the possible health risks:
“There’s garbage everywhere. There are rats here that are biting children. There’s so many mosquitoes ’cause there’s so much standing water,” Ivers said. “It’s really, really horrible, horrible living situation.”
“What kinds of diseases occur in these kinds of unsanitary conditions?” Couric asked.
“Diarrheal disease is probably one of the biggest ones,” Ivers said. “When you can’t wash your hands, when you don’t have soap, when you don’t have a latrine, then you get diseases, causing diarrhea. Typhoid is very common.”
To read the transcript, click here.
