On September 22, I posted the numbers for September 18: 7,582 deaths. Two days later, the total was 7,585 as of September 20. On October 3 I posted the totals for September 24-26, which included an unexplained drop of 72 in the number of deaths, and a new total (after 3 documented deaths) of 7,533.
For September 27, the new numbers continue to baffle. Total cases rise by 976 over September 26, while 244 new cases are reported for the day. Two deaths occur, but the death total rises by 14, to 7,547. Thereafter, the numbers for September 28-30 show 8 more deaths for a total of 7,555. Meanwhile total cases for these four days rise 1,588 to 597,977.
After following cholera in Haiti for almost two years, I'm not really upset with MSPP. It's pretty clearly a dysfunctional organization. I don't expect much from the local media either, which evidently feel some pressure not to report cholera news.
But I still expect better from the overseas media, and from the agencies and NGOs that form Haiti's de facto health system. They have either been silent, or used MSPP's numbers to fund-raise. As I said on October 3, this is now an ethical issue.
