Brussels  - The European Commission is to send 3 million euros (4.7 million dollars) to Haiti to boost food and health care for the island nation's poor, officials in Brussels said Tuesday.

The aid, which is the third such package the EU has allocated to Haiti this year, is "designed to improve access to food, health care, safe water and proper hygiene," a statement from the commission - the EU's executive - said.

The aid is expected to benefit up to 1.5 million people, with a particular focus on women and children, the statement said.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 78 per cent of the population living on less than 2 dollars per day.

The current surge in world food and oil prices in April sparked widespread unrest there, and the resulting political upheaval toppled the government of Jacques-Edouard Alexis.

EU officials say that their aid, which comes on top of 5 million euros already granted this year, should therefore also help to return the country to stability.

"This funding will not only help the neediest people in Haiti, it will also support the country in its effort to achieve social and political stability," EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said. (dpa)