Dr. Jon LaPook: Cholera Death Toll Rising In Haiti: Inside Port-Au-Prince’s Tent Camps
We landed in Port-Au-Prince about three hours ago to reports of the first cases of cholera in Port-Au-Prince itself. We drove straight to Parc Jean Marie St. Vincent, the largest tent camp in Port-Au-Prince.
When I visited this camp last April, I spoke to Dr. Dubique Kobel, a Haitian-born, Cuban medical school-educated physian who is the medical director of the park, which is supported by Partners in Health. Back then there were about 48,000 people. Now Dr. Kobel says there are “over fifty thousand” — exact numbers are hard to come by in Haiti. The camp is clearly bigger to my eye, with new small wooden housing structures on the road leading in.
More than 100 people were bathing outside and doing their laundry in very close quarters. The water came from a handmade well. Kids were splashing about in gutters of water. To my eye, this scene is a set-up for disaster should cholera strike.
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