On the heels of the earthquake in January and the outbreak of cholera in October, storms brought by hurricane Tomas hit Haiti last weekend.

Alongside the flooding and devastation which this caused, there is now an increased risk of cholera continuing to spread. The capital Port-au-Prince is also affected. At this point, there are already more than 8000 people in Haiti reported to have been infected with cholera, and over 500 deaths have been registered.

In the immediate aftermath of the cholera outbreak, German aid organizations on the ground made initial contributions to combat the disease, using funds from Germany provided to help earthquake victims. The Federal Foreign Office is now making an additional 200,000 euro available for further emergency assistance measures.

These funds will be used for drinking-water purification and hygiene measures in the areas of the Centre department which are affected or at risk, and now also in Port-au-Prince itself.

These measures will be implemented by the Workers’ Samaritan Federation and World Vision Deutschland. In the current year, the Federal Foreign Office has made available a total of 5.3 million euro for humanitarian emergency aid in Haiti.