The Canadian Press released an article on Tuesday depicting the new crisis that Haitians are now facing in the aftermath of the earthquake. Health workers say that, nearly a month after the quake, respiratory infections, diarrhea, malnutrition and a lack of appropriate food may be the biggest killers for young children in the disaster region.

The article tells the story of fourteen-month old Abigail Charlot, who survived Haiti's “cataclysmic earthquake, but not its miserable aftermath.” Abigail was brought into the capital’s General Hospital with a fever and diarrhea. Her “wire-thin” mother, Simone, had stopped lactating after the earthquake, which is not an uncommon occurrence in mothers who have been subject to shock and trauma. The lack of nutrients from her mother’s breast milk, combined with the sweltering heat and other meager conditions, had left little Abigail “literally dried up.” Treatment came too late for the young girl, and her parents, Simone and James, were left grief stricken at the loss of their only child.  
 
Abigail and her parents were just one of the thousands who are struggling to survive through “the second stage of Haiti’s medical emergency,” where disease, infections, and malnutrition have started to claim lives by the dozen. With thousands of people cramped in make-shift camps, health officials fear epidemics and disease outbreaks as well.
 
Baby Roselande is another trying to survive despite the desperate conditions. Doctors said that the four-month old, acutely malnourished girl was coughing and not gaining weight. Like Simone, Roselande’s mother, Farah Paul, said her breast milk dried up the day of the quake. According to doctors, the baby was given porridge and bananas, but was not able to digest it.
 
Unicef child nutrition expert, Mija Ververs, said that acute malnutrition is only expected to worsen until the summer harvest in August. But Haiti’s children have already long been suffering from malnutrition. With approximately 17,500 children under age five acutely malnourished before the quake, Haiti has the highest rate of malnutrition in the western hemisphere. According to Unicef, the country also has the child and maternal mortality rates in the hemisphere.
 
Although Vitamin Angels is not a relief organization, we are also doing what we can to provide assistance to the children of Haiti. Vitamin Angels has sent over 1 million children’s multivitamins to our partners in Haiti and will continue to send vitamins throughout the year as a means to fight malnutrition throughout the country through our Thrive to Five and Operation 20/20 Programs. Multivitamins provide infants and children the nutrients they need to build strong immune systems during this difficult crisis.

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