The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti has filed suit against the United Nations, charging that it did not properly screen “peacekeepers” for cholera, allowed untreated waste from a U.N. base to be dumped into the country’s main river system, and failed to adequately respond to the cholera outbreak. The epidemic, which began in October 2010 and has been traced to Nepalese U.N. personnel, has killed more than 6,500 of the nearly 500,000 Haitians who have been stricken.
Cuba, with a decades-long commitment to sending medical support teams worldwide, has had doctors serving the Haitian people since 1998. An extensive Nov. 7 New York Times article noted that Cuban doctors have played a prominent role in the fight against cholera, stating that the Cuban medical mission in Haiti is “winning accolades from donors and diplomats for staying on the front lines and undertaking a broader effort to remake this country’s shattered health care system.”
