Konbit Sante Continues Cholera Prevention Efforts

Despite Unrest in Cap Haitien, Haiti- Interviews Available

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2010
Contact: Danny Muller/ info@konbitsante.org/
Direct line: (001)207 931- 8460 (Cap Haitien)

“Konbit Sante is taking the lead in coordinating a community-wide campaign for

cholera prevention in Cap Haitien, mobilizing many people and using all available
media to help get the word out. Working with Oxfam GB, Haiti Hospital Appeal,
UNICEF, and others, we are setting up community early rehydration and cholera
prevention stations. The depth of the tragedy is amplified by the fact that this is both
an easily treatable and easily preventable disease. Simply put, it doesn’t happen in
places where people have ready access to clean water, and access to clean water
has to be viewed as the most basic of human rights.” Nathan Nickerson RN,
DrPH, Executive Director

“Prevention efforts by Konbit Sante and our partners are key to controlling the
cholera epidemic in Cap Haitien. I am coordinating outreach to a population of
123,000 people with grass roots education efforts to protect the population and
provide educational materials. For people infected with cholera, we are providing a
quick response at health rally posts to patients with oral rehydration salts and
rehydrating them in the field to secure their well being. We are working to replicate
this model throughout the Cap Haitien area because of the proven success of this
model.”-Youseline Telemaque, MD

“Konbit Sante has been going out into communities and conducting training sessions
for people at risk. Many of the drinking water sources are contaminated with fecal
material, which puts populations at risk of contracting cholera, as well as other water
borne disease. As little as a few drops of chlorine can make water safe. The
challenge now is to get the message out to people about safe disinfection methods,
which is where we are concentrating our focus.”-Hugh Tozer

Nathan Nickerson is the Executive Director of Konbit Sante. He has worked in Haiti over the past nine
years and focused on infectious diseases, public health, and community outreach. He holds a doctorate in
international public health.

Dr. Telemaque graduated medical school at Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince, and completed her
residency in Obstretrician/Gynecology at the Justinien University Hospital in Cap Haitien. Over the past
five years, she has focused on women’s health and more recently on community health for women.
Interviews Available in French.

Hugh Tozer is president of the board of Konbit Sante and a water and wastewater engineer with Woodard
& Curran in Portland, Maine. His work with Konbit Sante focuses on infrastructure projects, particularly a
project to improve the quantity, quality, and distribution of water. He is currently conducting water testing
in Cap Haitien.

About Konbit Sante

Since 2001, Konbit Sante staff and volunteers have worked in collaboration with the Haitian Ministry of Health and other
partners to build local capacity in all aspects of the health system - from door-to-door community outreach programs, to
strengthening community health centers, to improving care at the regional referral hospital. In Haitian Creole, a konbit is
a traditional Haitian method of working together to till your friends' fields as well as your own - working together toward a
common goal. The word sante means health. For more information about Konbit Sante-supported programs in
community outreach and disease prevention, pediatrics, women's health, procurement and management of medical
equipment and supplies, improvement of water quality at the regional referral hospital and more, please
visit www.healthyhaiti.org. Konbit Sante is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation organized in the State of Maine.