Haiti cannot seem to catch a break. A cholera outbreak first reported in the rural Artibonite region north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, has sickened hundreds of people and caused more than 250 deaths.

The highly infectious water-borne disease, unseen in Haiti for decades, has been reported in towns near the capital, with fears rising that it could spread into the already beleaguered capital city.

With another emergency on their hands, the urgency has increased for the Haitian government and international aid groups to coordinate efforts and resources to avert a medical fiasco.

One immediate concern after the massive earthquake in January was that the disaster would expose Haitians to diseases related to the extremely poor sanitary conditions. In a country where half the population lacked safe sources of drinking water and fewer still had access to proper sanitation and health facilities, the risk of rampant disease was no idle fear.

Haiti is in a race to treat the sick and stop the cholera epidemic from advancing into densely populated Port-au-Prince, where more than a million displaced residents still live in crowded, squalid camps.

If the government needed a reason swiftly to improve the sanitation and water systems and public health facilities across the island, this latest scourge is it.

Akron Beacon Journal