Eradicating cholera on the island of Haiti (Hispaniola)

In October 2010, months after the horrific earthquake devastated Haiti on 12 January, 2010, Haiti was struck by another tragedy: cholera.

Cholera had not been on the island of Hispaniola for over 100 years and its return in 2010 produced the largest outbreak of the disease recorded in recent history, in which 8,600 people died. The speed with which the disease spread was said to be due to the lack of adequate sanitation and health services. Haiti has the lowest levels of access to safe water and sanitation of any country in the Americas, and only 29 per cent of the population has good sanitation.