February 09, 2010
A must-read article from the Washington Post today surveys the aid and relief efforts, noting there is still a dire need for more food, shelter, sanitation, medical supplies and equipment, crutches for amputees, post-operative care and rehabilitation, and much more.
“Every day, tens of thousands of Haitians face a grueling quest to find food, any food. A nutritious diet is out of the question,” as “…Overwhelmed doctors and nurses are now facing converging streams of need, from untended wounds and the illnesses born of poor sanitation to the ailments of a population that had inferior health care long before Jan. 12.”
The Post notes that the U.S. maybe taking a more sober view of the situation:
Sector by sector, we’re trying to make sure we just continue to solve problems and do better every day,” Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, told reporters last week. Shah said Haiti will be facing a medical emergency for “many weeks to come.”
But
At times, U.S. officials have offered sunnier assessments considerably at odds with reality. A State Department spokesman, Gordon Duguid, said in Port-au-Prince on Day 14, “It’s a week now that there’s no problem for bread.” The top USAID official in Haiti told reporters on Day 19 that “the Haitians are leading the process in all the areas that are necessary.”
