Cuba opens new cholera treatment center in Carrefours
Cholera Deaths Reach 2,323 in Haiti
Cuban doctors are treating 40 percent of cases
Prensa Latina, Tuesday December 14, 2010
Port-au-Prince, (Prensa Latina) The Haitian Public Health Ministry reports 130 more deaths in the last three days, for a total of 2,323 from the cholera epidemic detected in this Caribbean country in October. The department of Artibonite, where the first cholera cases were detected, is now the most affected zone with 748 dead reported, while in the capital, deaths rose to 178.
According to reports, 50,923 people have been treated in medical centers, while 49,330 outpatients were attended. International aid is growing with the arrival of medical supplies, staff, and hygiene products, but it is still insufficient.
Cuba is the country with the largest presence in Haiti. More than 1,000 health professionals are working here to fight the epidemic and save as many lives as possible. Cuban workers have assisted at least 40 percent of patients, with a mortality rate of less than one percent.
Venezuela, Ecuador and Brazil are among the Latin American states that have also collaborated with the Haitian people, in addition to several European nations, such as Spain, and several Caribbean states.
Cuba Bolsters Anti-Cholera Actions in Haiti
By Ana Valdes Portela
Prensa Latina, Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Port-au-Prince, The opening of a new Cholera Treatment Center (CTC) is one of the steps taken by the Cuban Medical Mission to halt the epidemic that is ravaging Haiti. The new center is located in the densely-populated hillside neighborhood of Carrefour in the capital, where more than 400,000 people live.
With the Carrefour center, a total of nine CTCs have been set up by Cuban personnel in several Haitian provinces. The others are operating in Mirebalais, Hinche, Saut-d'Eau, L'Estere, Plateau, Plaine du Nord, Belladere and Plaissance, and the goal of the Cuban Medical Mission is to set up 20 CTCs.
According to Haitian authorities, Cuba is the country that has made the most outstanding cooperative efforts in the fight to control the cholera epidemic that has taken more than 2,192 lives since Oct. 20. Cuban health personnel have attended at least 40 percent of the Haitians afflicted with cholera and have achieved a mortality rate of less than one percent.
Latin American, Caribbean and European nations are collaborating with medical and health materials and specialists for this impoverished nation. Several Caribbean nations close to Haiti have prepared plans to prevent the further spread of the outbreak which has already hit the Dominican Republic. There, 32 cases have been confirmed.