This week Direct Relief collaborated with the Haitian Ministry of Health in the North, West, and Centre departments to supply public health facilities with products to treat and prevent the spread of cholera in outlying areas and continues to work closely with the Ministry of Health.

In addition to the 20-ton air shipment supplied to Partners in Health, Hospital Albert Schweitzer, and the Medishare program this week to support their efforts to treat cholera patients, Direct Relief is also supplying Justinian University Hospital, the second-largest public hospital in the country, located in the north of Haiti, with water purification tabs, antibiotics, oral rehydration solutions, and IV fluids should the outbreak extend there.

Direct Relief also received a truckload of 4,200 gallons of bleach from The Clorox Company in the Dominican Republic. This generous donation will deliver to the Artibonite region so the hospitals and clinics can properly clean their facilities and prevent the spread of the infection to other patients.

While the death rates from the cholera outbreak have slowed, public officials still fear that there may be a larger outbreak in Port-au-Prince due to the highly mobile Haitian population. The infection can spread quickly if the proper sanitation is not practiced. Direct Relief will continue to provide needed supplies to the primary points of medical care throughout Haiti throughout this crisis.