AP Interview: UN envoy Farmer says Haiti cholera outbreak is now world’s worst

[Judi Lynn]

AP Interview: UN envoy Farmer says Haiti cholera outbreak is now world’s worst
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, October 18, 9:07 PM

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti has the highest rate of cholera in the world a mere year after the disease first arrived in the Caribbean nation, a leading health expert said Tuesday.

Dr. Paul Farmer, one of the founders of the medical group Partners in Health and U.N. deputy special envoy to Haiti, said cholera has sickened more than 450,000 people in a nation of 10 million, or nearly 5 percent of the population, and killed more than 6,000.

Farmer told The Associated Press on the anniversary of cholera’s arrival in Haiti that it’s also on the verge of becoming the leading cause of death by infectious disease in the Caribbean nation.

“It’s freakin’ incredible,” Farmer said by telephone. “In 365 days, you go from no cases to the largest number in the world.”

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/ap-interview-un-envoy-farmer-says-haiti-cholera-outbreak-is-now-worlds-worst/2011/10/18/gIQAeVNZvL_story.html

[flamingdem]

1. It's a good idea to donate to PIH run by Paul Farmer

They are a great organization.

Sadly this is getting zero, zero news coverage.. how fickle of Andersen Cooper & the others who championed Haiti