SANTO DOMINGO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Dominican Republic and Haiti Wednesday launched a joint plan aimed at eliminating cholera, which has claimed more than 7,000 lives in both countries since October 2010.

The efforts were backed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Dominican officials said.

The plan, "Call to action: the Hispaniola without cholera", aims to improve sanitary and living conditions of the Haiti people who face herculean reconstruction work following a devastating earthquake in the country on Jan. 12, 2010, that killed 220,000 people and displaced over 1 million.

Cases of cholera, an infection that causes severe diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death, first appeared in Haiti in October, 2010.

The epidemic has so far killed more than 7,000 people and left nearly 500,000 more sick in Haiti.

It also killed 135 people in the Dominican Republic as of September 2011, according to Dominican health authorities.

Some 500 million U.S. dollars will be invested in projects related to sanitization and the construction of infrastructure that has to do with waterworks in both nations in the long term.