Dominican Republic, Haiti to get US$2.07B to fight cholera

Santo Domingo.- Haiti will receive US$2.0 billion and Dominican Republic US$70 million for a campaign against cholera, the water-borne disease that has sickened tens of thousands of people in the two countries that share the island of Hispaniola.

Dominican Deputy Public Health Minister Rafael Schiffino says the two governments work on a project to rid Hispaniola of the disease by 2022. He said the plan includes clean water and sanitation projects.

Cholera was the topic in a bilateral meeting in Dominican Republic on Monday, when the plan was started.

Experts say the disease, which emerged suddenly in Haiti in October 2010 was likely introduced by U.N. peacekeepers. Since then, the disease has killed 7,000 people and sickened about 300,000 in Haiti. There have been 22,000 cases and 350 deaths in the Dominican Republic.