As we all know, Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake that killed 300,000 and made at least one and a half million people homeless. There was an enormous response from the US and other countries; celebrities raised millions to try and help this island country that sits just off our shores. Everyone seemed to pat themselves on the backs, and this crisis faded from view after several months. But the problem is not solved.
One hundred and fifty people have died from a cholera epidemic that is threatening to cripple an already-damaged country. It is believed that even more will die before this outbreak is curbed.
I, for one, am shocked. Of all the diseases that are known to wreak havoc in impoverished nations, cholera is possibly the most preventable and most treatable. This is unacceptable, that a country neighboring the United States can have an outbreak of such a ridiculous disease. Where the hell are the celebrities now? Is our collective attention span so short that we can only care about a nation so close to home and so badly damaged for a few months? Cholera is easily treated. There is a vaccine for it. We have no excuse for letting conditions down there get so bad that one hundred and fifty people would die.
We were so forthcoming and so interested in Haiti when this earthquake first occurred. Where is our interest now? They haven't had a cholera epidemic in a century. How could we be alright with simply doing a half-assed job in a country that actually wants and needs our help.
I wish that I could tell people to just go back to donating money to help the relief effort, but I can't tell people what to do with their money, not given the current economic climate. However, I would like to remind people that we don't have a cure for poverty, or HIV, or any of the other things ravaging countries that aren't as fortunate as our own, but we can eliminate cholera. We can eliminate it, and there is no reasonable explanation for why we haven't already done so.
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