Pioneering Cholera Scientist Gives Thumbs Down to Oral Vaccines Promoted for Haiti | Un pionnier scientifique du choléra dit que les vaccins oraux promus pour Haïti sont inutiles

By Rashid Haider, Haiti Chery. Prof. Richard A. Finkelstein, an eminent microbiologist and Nobel-Prize nominee for his pioneering studies on cholera, advises that for cholera “the best solution resides in providing safe drinking water and sewage disposal.” In Dec 2010, alarmed by the oral vaccination plans for Haiti, he wrote to the health officials, including Jon Andrus, the Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that the proposed use of Dukoral was “a useless and expensive waste of resources.” This vaccine was not adopted, but a campaign immediately started for the use of Shanchol, another questionable oral cholera vaccine. (English | French)

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Carnaval 2012: A Musical Indictment of Corruption in Haiti

Music by Don Kato, Boukman Eksperyans, Vwadezil | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Nearly every Haitian Carnival 2012 song is an indictment of the current state of affairs: corruption, cholera, rapes, MINUSTAH. We’re not partying to forget but to remember. (songs in Kreyol)

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Foreign Aid, Foreign Wastes

Data from USAID | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. A policy of tied aid has until now required that USAID funds be spent on goods and services exclusively from U.S. companies. A new policy will allow USAID to buy many goods and services from developing countries, but not food, motor vehicles, or U.S.-patented pharmaceuticals.

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Haitian Senate Resolution: UN Soldiers Accused of Rape Should Be Tried In Place | Le Sénat vote une résolution réclamant que des soldats de l’ONU accusés de crimes soient jugés en Haïti

By staff, AHP | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The Haitian Senate has strongly condemned the latest rape of a boy on Jan 20, 2012 by Pakistani UN soldiers and noted that in such cases it is the law of the place where the crime is committed that should prevail. (English | French)

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U.N. Tightens Belt: No More Cruise Ship Hotels | La ONU se ajusta el cinturón : No mas barcos de crucero

By Thalif Deen, IPS. Compared to the $5.4 B U.N. budget for 2010-11, the 2012-13 budget will be cut by $260 M. This is a cut of less than 5%, but the news are still significant because, since its inception over 50 years ago, the U.N. has expanded every year, except for one instance 14 years ago. (English | Spanish)

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No Cholera Death for One Year Where Cuban-Led Medical Teams Work

By Staff, Granma | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Cuban-led medical teams reported an entire year without a death among cholera patients they treated in Haiti. Since the start of the epidemic, a combined approach of epidemiological surveillance and community education has resulted in a 3.6 times lower death rate for the Cuban-led medics than all other medical groups working in Haiti.

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Warning: Haiti ‘Cholera Vaccination’ Campaign Will Involve AIDS Researchers | Avertissement: Des chercheurs sur le SIDA participeront à la ‘vaccination contre le choléra’ en Haiti

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery | Staff (jep kft gp), AlterPresse. According to Haitian Director General of the Department of Public Health and Population (MSPP), Gabriel Timothee, initial tests of a cholera vaccine will start in Haiti in February 2012 in disadvantaged areas of Port-au-Prince and the Plateau Central. Studies of the vaccination will be conducted in collaboration with Zanmi Lasante (Partners in Health, PIH) and a center called Haitian Studies of Kaposi Syndrome and Opportunistic Infections (Gheskio). (English | French)

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Oral Cholera Vaccines Cannot Control Haiti Cholera: Rebuttal to an Article in Scientific American

By Rashid Haider, Haiti Chery | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. From the moment cholera appeared in Haiti, a group of supposed experts started to promote oral cholera vaccines for the country. Dr. Rashid Haider provides a devastating rebuttal of the most recent of such articles, which extensively quotes Paul Farmer and appeared in the January 12, 2012 issue of Scientific American.

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Haiti-Bound Cholera Vaccine ‘Absolutely Useless’ According to Bangladesh Field Trial | Le vaccin pour Haïti contre le choléra est ‘absolument inutile,’ d’après un essai au Bangladesh

By Dr. Rashid Haider, The Independent | Ahmed Sadiq, News from Bangladesh | Translated by Dady Chery for Haiti Chery. Incidents of scientific fraud have reached a record high, and one area that requires careful scrutiny is vaccine trials in far-away developing countries. A detailed report of Bangladesh’s 2011 field trials, for the Shanchol vaccine being pushed on Haiti, thoroughly disproves claims made about this vaccine. (English | French)

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Cholera Vaccines Unnecessary, Ineffective, Expensive, and Dangerous

By Rashid Haider, Haiti Chery | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Cholera vaccines are being pushed on Haiti, especially Shanchol, a vaccine that protects only 45 percent of those vaccinated during the first year and is unsuitable for controlling epidemic or endemic cholera. Shanchol is expensive. In addition, preparations of it for use in developing countries contain the mercury-based preservative thiomersal.

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Aid as a Trojan Horse: On the Anniversary of the Haitian Earthquake

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Long before the word sustainable became fashionable, before Henry David Thoreau noted that “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone,” there was Haiti.

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Cuba’s Health Care Miracle in Haiti: Interview with Dr. Jorge Balseiro Estevez | Le Miracle Cubain des soins et de la santé en Haïti: Interview avec le Dr Jorge Estevez Balseiro

By Roger Annis and Jorge Balseiro Estevez, Haiti Liberté | CHAN | Haiti Chery translation. “The Henry Reeve Cuban Internationalist Medical Brigade has treated more than 18 million cases in Haiti. We have performed 304,577 surgeries and vaccinated 1,501,076 people. We estimate the number of lives we have saved is 284,239.”- Dr. Balseiro Estevez. Gracias a Cuba! (English | French)

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If One Could Extrapolate to One NGO Per Haitian… | Si l’on pourrait arriver à une ONG par Haïtien…

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Half of Haiti’s medical NGOs have left and more plan to shut down their cholera-treatment programs by the year’s end. And guess what? Haiti will get healthier (English | French).

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