THE Regional Coalition for Water and Sanitation to Eliminate Cholera in Hispaniola is calling for stepped-up support from the international community to help Haiti and the Dominican Republic end the cholera epidemic on their shared island, as peparations are being made to observe World Water Day on Sunday.

The Regional Coalition has been supporting efforts by the two countries to expand access to water and sanitation while also strengthening their health systems’ response to cholera. It was originally launched in 2012 by the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) and partners including UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Universal access to water and sanitation is a pillar of public health and is critical to defeating cholera and water-borne diseases,” said Isabella Danel, Deputy Director of PAHO/WHO, which serves as secretariat for the Regional Coalition. “We believe access to water and sanitation is a basic human right, and we invite other organisations who agree to join and help Haiti and the Dominican Republic make that right a reality for their inhabitants.”

Since cholera first broke out in Haiti in 2010, more than 730,000 Haitians have been sickened by the disease and more than 8,700 have died. In the first two months of 2015, Haiti reported an average of more than 1,000 new cases each week (as of February 21). The Dominican Republic has reported more than 32,000 total cholera cases and 480 deaths since 2010. The disease also caused outbreaks in Cuba and Mexico, and other countries reported imported cases.

With support from the Regional Coalition, the governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic developed national plans to eliminate cholera through major improvements in safe water, sanitation, and hygiene and health system strengthening. Since 2012, coalition members and other international partners have helped Haiti make progress including:

* The construction and rehabilitation of drilled boreholes, shallow wells, spring and rainwater harvesting structures, and other water supply options;

* The launch in 2014 of a ‘Total Sanitation Campaign’ aimed at improving water and sanitation in priority communes;

* Creation of a new performance monitoring system to track water quality and use, as well as finances in water and sanitation systems and facilities throughout the country;

* Capacity building for water supply and sanitation committees, communal administrative councils, and communal water and sanitation technicians to improve service delivery and governance in the water sector; and

* Passage in 2009 of a law on water sector reform, which aims to improve access and service through decentralisation of the water and sanitation sector.