This was a response to the prior post, reflective of a perception within the nearly 800 member HEAS network that the cholera response effort was badly mismanaged. Many suggest a Congressional Investigation is in order:
As you know, I share the view that governments, particularly the U.S., have under-estimated the magnitude of the problem, and as a consequence seek to put this into a long-term context, saying that eventually it will end. USAID and CDC, among other political entities, put their heads in the sand and wait for the storm to blow over. I really hope [the HEAS] network exposes the relative passivity and inaction of the U.S. Government. This can be easily done by meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus in tandem with the Haitian-American leadership and calling this failure for what it is. As a retired U.S. Government official, I have been dismayed by the lack of U.S. Government leadership in Haiti - first by not providing much-needed resources for meaningful recovery to date and now by not committing sufficient assistance to shut down the cholera. Were I still in a senior government decision-making position, this inaction would not have happened. I would have done whatever it took, even if it meant shaming colleagues, to stop the cholera in Haiti. Now, watching developments from the sidelines, I feel helpless and frustrated, wondering how many more Haitians need to die before Washington, D.C. gets off dead center. I commend the invaluable efforts by the many in-country medical personnel on [the HEAS] network who are saving lives every day.
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