Groups say Haiti, Dom. Rep. need US$2.2B to eradicate cholera, AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE.- The governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic are joining international health groups to eradicate cholera, and they say the project requires US$2.2 billion over the next 10 years, AP reports.

The Pan-American Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF will help execute the project, an effort to be led by the governments of the two countries that share Hispaniola.

“The project would be the biggest endeavor ever to develop Haiti’s barely existent water and sanitation system,” said the report by therepublic.com.

The tattered state of Haiti’s infrastructure has contributed to the spread of cholera, which surfaced in October 2010.

It has killed more than 7,600 people in Haiti and more than 420 people in the Dominican Republic.