By Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News

In Haiti, latrines are almost as impor­tant as food and shel­ter. With­out enough, unsan­i­tary con­di­tions spread dis­eases like typhoid, malaria, and dysen­tery. Many of the thou­sands of relief groups help­ing in Haiti are con­tribut­ing to the latrine effort.

Help to Haiti “Not Good Enough”

Yet accord­ing to the United Nations, relief groups fell far short of the mid-April goal of build­ing 11-thousand latrines. At last word, they num­bered 5,347: barely half.

CBS News counted up the num­ber of latrines that 20 relief groups say they pro­vided or installed in Haiti since the earth­quake in Jan­u­ary. The total was 10,069.

How can that be, when the UN said only about half that num­ber (5,347) had been built?

Spe­cial Sec­tion: Haiti the Road to Recovery

Experts tell us it’s because of the way relief is dis­trib­uted, pro­vided and counted. One group may pay for a latrine, two oth­ers install it, and all three count it among the total help they’ve pro­vided. There’s noth­ing improper about that, but what looks like three latrines — may really be just one.

The same may apply to untold other relief sup­plies, but there’s no sim­ple way to know. Relief experts tell us one agency may pur­chase a tarp, another trans­ports it, and a third group dis­trib­utes it. Each group claims credit and, in fact, each group con­tributed to the effort. But what looks like three tarps — may really be just one.

All this may help explain the appear­ance gap between all the help that’s been pro­vided to Haiti so far, and the hard real­ity on the ground. Bil­lions of dol­lars in assis­tance are pour­ing in. Thou­sands of relief groups are con­tribut­ing resources. Yet untold tens of thou­sands in Haiti are still liv­ing in emer­gency con­di­tions with basic needs unful­filled and their lives threatened.

Latrines in Haiti

Mid-April goal*: 11,000

Mid-April claimed**: 10,069+

Mid-April actual*: 5,347

*source: United Nations Office for the Coor­di­na­tion of Human­i­tar­ian Affairs

**total num­ber ref­er­enced by 20 relief groups, as com­piled by CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20004328–10391695.html