Haiti’s Cholera Outbreak Escalates Amid Worsening Humanitarian Conditions

Author: Sibusiso Gugushe

November 10, 2025

HRRC calls on foreign governments and international partners to take urgent and coordinated action to support the people of Haiti during the ongoing Cholera outbreak, and especially work to restore access to essential services to health and sanitation.

Cholera patients receive treatment at a medical center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 16, 2025. [Image credit: Mentor David Lorens/EPA/Shutterstock]

The ongoing political crisis in Haiti – in which armed criminal groups now control much of the country, blocking key roads, disrupting humanitarian aid, and leaving communities cut off from essential assistance – has forced civilians to live in overcrowded and makeshift shelters without proper access to clean water or sanitation. As a result, the country is now witnessing a devastating resurgence of cholera that is further endangering already vulnerable populations.

Cholera, a severe diarrheal disease caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae, first became a major health problem in Haiti in 2010. Between 2010 and 2019, the Haitian Ministry of Health recorded about 820,000 suspected cases and nearly 9,800 deaths, though the actual numbers were likely higher. To fight the outbreak, the Haitian Ministry of Health launched a 10-year elimination plan, including administering cholera vaccinations and  improving access to clean water and sanitation. By early 2019, no new cholera cases were confirmed, and the country remained cholera-free for more than three years.

However, in late 2022, the disease reappeared, as political instability, gang violence, and a port blockade led to shortages of food, fuel, and clean water. The first two confirmed cholera cases were reported on October 1, 2022, in the Ouest Department, and spread quickly.  The current outbreak, worsened by the rainy season, is now spreading in and around Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, even as the country’s health system struggles to contain it amid the increasing violence.

The outbreak has escalated this year: between January 1 and October 30, health officials reported 2,852 suspected cholera cases, 186 confirmed infections, and 48 deaths. More than one-third of the suspected cases are children under the age of nine. 

According to the United Nations (UN), only about 25% of households in Haiti have proper handwashing facilities, while 70% do not have access to improved sanitation systems. "Stagnant water, broken sewage lines, and the accumulation of trash across the city create ideal conditions for outbreaks to spread whenever the rains come,"  Diana Manilla Arroyo, head of Mission in Haiti for Doctors Without Borders, told Human Rights Watch. 

Those who get sick struggle to find medical care. According to the UN, only 11% of hospitals and clinics in the capital are fully functional. In gang-controlled areas such as Cité Soleil and lower Delmas, residents can’t move around freely or afford private care, unlike those in safer, wealthier areas.

As the outbreak continues to spread, it has reached more affluent neighborhoods including Pétion-Ville, an area home to many UN and diplomatic offices.

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Glossary

• Aid – Help given to people in need.

• Affluent – Rich; having a lot of money.

• Assistance – Help or support.

• Bacteria – single-cell organisms, some of which are connected to diseases..

• Blockade –Blocking of roads or ports  to stop the movement of people or goods. 

• Cholera – A bacteria-caused disease that causes severe diarrhea and dehydration.

• Communities – Groups of people living in the same area.

• Contaminate – To become infected by a given disease..

• Coordination – Working together in an organized way.

• Crisis – A serious problem that needs quick action.

• Culture-confirmed – A lab test that proves the bacteria is present.

• Dehydration – a potentially deadly condition caused by a lack of water in the body.

• Diplomatic offices – Locations home to officials working for foreign countries.

• Disaster management – Planning and responding to emergencies.

• Displaced – Forced to leave your home.

• Elimination plan – A plan to completely get rid of a disease.

• Epidemic – A disease spreading quickly in a localized area.

• Essential services – Basic things people need, like water and healthcare.

• Fuel shortages – A lack of gasoline or diesel fuel for transportation needs.

• Gang-controlled areas – Places run by criminal groups.

• Health infrastructure – Hospitals, clinics, and healthcare systems.

• Humanitarian – Helping people in need.

• Infection – A disease caused by an infection of bacteria or viruses..

• Insecurity – Lack of safety; in danger from violence.

• Investigation – Looking closely to find out the cause of a problem.

• Makeshift shelters – Temporary homes made from basic materials.

• Negligence – Not taking care of something properly.

• Outbreak – When a disease suddenly spreads in an area.

• Overcrowded – Too many people in one place.

• Rapid response teams – Groups trained to act quickly to react to emergencies.

• Resurgence – The return of a disease after it was believed to be eliminated.

• Sanitation – Keeping places clean and safe from waste.

• Sanitation systems – Toilets and waste systems that help prevent diseases spread by human waste.

• Secure area – A place that is protected from outside dangers, such as conflict or gang violence.

• Stagnant– Still, not moving.

• Strain – A mutation or version of bacteria or virus.

• Threat– a suggestion that something unpleasant or violent will happen

• Transmission – the spread of a disease from person to person.

• UN (United Nations) – The global intergovernmental organization that, among other powers, helps coordinate humanitarian aid to areas in crises.

• Vulnerable – able to be easily physically or mentally hurt, influenced, or attacked.

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Sources

1. Bustos, S., & WLRN Public Media. (2025, 11 06). Cholera resurgence in Haiti sparks alarm amid worsening health system, report says. WUSF. Retrieved 11 07, 2025, from https://www.wusf.org/health-news-florida/2025-11-06/cholera-resurgence-in-haiti-sparks-alarm-amid-worsening-health-system-report-says

2. CDC. (2025, May 29). Cholera | Cholera. CDC. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://www.cdc.gov/cholera/about/index.html

3. Human Rights Watch. (2025, November 5). Haiti: Cholera Resurgence Threatens Vulnerable Communities. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/11/05/haiti-cholera-resurgence-threatens-vulnerable-communities

4. Juin, S., Michel, E., & Matias, W. R. (2025, July 01). Water Insecurity, Sociopolitical Instability, and Resurgence of Cholera in Haiti, 2022: An Outbreak Investigation. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 113(3), 689–693. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.24-0755