Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Port au Prince (Agenzia Fides) - The Social Services of the Dominican Churches (SSDC) has just opened a new "Service Center to Cholera" in the community of Bom Repos, Port-au-Prince, funded by cooperative organizations in Korea and Canada. Since October 2010 the people of Haiti continue to be plagued by a cholera epidemic that has so far caused the deaths of some 5,400 people and has infected 344,000, according to government figures of the country in the Antilles. In recent weeks there has been an increase in disease, particularly in areas on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, and international organizations have stepped up their work, including the opening of several cholera treatment centers. The executive director of the SSDC, Lorenzo Mota King, said that the center has a room for monitoring and diagnosis, two rooms for hospitalization with 18 beds and a recovery room. The director of this center is a woman of Korean nationality, assisted by a doctor, 9 nurses, 5 auxiliaries and 2 health promoters, along with other staff. In an official note received by Fides, Mota King explains that international organizations who have helped to make this project possible are Diakonia Koreana, South Korea, and Global Assistance Partners, in Canada. The local office of UNICEF and the United Nations Mission for the Stability of Haiti (MINUSTAH) also helped. The Centre is located in an area where up to 10 000 families live in camps, without any assistance from the State or private organizations. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 21/06/2011)
