In October 2010, there was an outbreak of cholera in the lower Artibonite region of Haiti that directly affected many of the communities where the organization Partners in Health works. PIH immediately began working with partners on the ground to treat patients and stem the outbreak. The two main concerns of PIH during the outbreak were clean water and access to treatment facilities. Many communities continued to only have access to contaminated water sources, and reaching hospitals is difficult or nearly impossible for Haitins living in rural communities.
PIH prioritized community outreach by sponsoring radio messages that were played throughout the region, and by mobilizing PIH community health workers and social workers to educate their communities on prevention and infection treatment, and to distribute water purification tablets and oral rehydration salts.
Other PIH efforts during the outbreak included setting up special triage facilities and treatment centers to prevent cholera patients from infecting non-cholera patients, separating uninfected prisoners from infected prisoners in Mirebalais, providing education and prevention campaigns to residents of settlement camps in Port-au-Prince in order to manage future cholera outbreaks, and providing water trucks to some of the communities most in need.
Donors to PIH contributed more than 50% of the funds needed to support the outbreak recovery effort. The Red Hot Organization is proud to be one of the donors who has contributed to PIH. In 2010, Arcade Fire recommended PIH to the Red Hot Organization, and funds from Dark Was The Night were contributed to support relief efforts in Haiti.
