Above: UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos on her visit to Haiti this week (UN Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The estimated 600,000 people still in camps after last year’s earthquake in Haiti are “extremely vulnerable,” UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos said today after returning from a two-day visit in the country.

Haiti’s quake refugees are “facing food insecurity, the threat to cholera and of course natural disasters, such as the current hurricane season,” she said. “The president, donors and the people of Haiti want to see a much greater focus on development and there is considerable frustration that the pace is slow. But I want everyone to remember that the humanitarian crisis in Haiti is not over.”

While the UN said the number of people dying from cholera, which has reached 6,500, is slowing, heavy rainfall last month set off new outbreaks of the disease.

“Sanitation and the provision of safe water is a national priority, and the ministry of public health and population is progressively improving and taking over the cholera treatment centers,” she said.