Surviving the massive quake that rocked Haiti was just the beginning. Experts say the new dangers -- among them, deaths from untreated wounds and disease outbreak -- may be compounded by Haiti's old problem: poverty.
"That creates a lot of challenges," said David Gazashvili, emergency team leader in Haiti for the humanitarian group CARE, "because Haiti is a country that's in a chronic emergency in terms of food insecurity, in terms of access to clean water, in terms of income."
Giuseppe Annunziata, the World Health Organization's emergency coordinator for Haiti, says the "big earthquake, right in the capital of a very poor and fragile state," created a humanitarian nightmare because basic health care services have "completely collapsed."
"It's compounded by the fact that the state structure is so severely hit and the existing humanitarian structure has also been severely hit," Annunziata said. "And we have to deal with that."
Many victims could die from wounds that under normal circumstances would be easily treatable; a lack of food and clean water raises concerns over disease outbreaks. And people who were getting treatment for HIV and other chronic diseases no longer have access to care.
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