Sanitation woes grow in Haiti camps

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Aid workers in Haiti say a chronic shortage of bathroom facilities is threatening the health of thousands of earthquake evacuees.

There are concerns about disease outbreaks in the emergency camps in the Port-au-Prince area where thousands of Haitians have been sheltered since last month's devastating earthquake.

The Miami Herald said Wednesday relief officials want to get 9,000 more portable toilets in place before the rainy season starts in the spring.

Marie-Agnes Heine, spokeswoman for the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization, told the newspaper no significant outbreaks have been reported; however, conditions are ripe for diarrhea and other diseases related to sanitation. "We are afraid it will become a big problem," she said.

Heine said sanitation was a problem in Haiti even before the Jan. 12 quake. An estimated 58 percent of the impoverished island's population had regular access to clean water prior to the disaster.