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UN Forces Brought Cholera To Haiti

Hannah Madans |
April 1, 2012 | 1:54 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

courtesy Creative Commons
courtesy Creative Commons
A New York Times investigation suggests that UN peacekeeping troops imported cholera to Haiti. The resulting epidemic killed more than 7,050 people. More than 531,000, or 5 percent of the population, have fallen ill to the disease.

The UN has been unwilling to claim responsibility, reports The Daily Beast.

The UN’s supposed role in the epidemic and unwillingness to acknowledge responsibility has made it difficult to treat the epidemic, even though “Epidemiologic and microbiologic evidence strongly suggests that United Nations peacekeeping troops from Nepal imported cholera to Haiti, contaminated the river tributary next to their base through a faulty sanitation system and caused a second disaster,” reports the NY Times.

Cholera had never before been recorded in Haiti.

So far, $230 million has been donated to fight the spread of cholera. The UN is now asking for an additional $53.9 million.

Some cholera victims are asking for compensation from the UN and asking the organization to accept responsibility.

Some protests of the UN have slowed down the construction of treatment centers and delivery of potentially life saving medications, according to the NY Times.

Reports that the UN is too blame for the outbreak of cholera has made many Haitians hesitant to accept help from the group and has led to much distrust.



 

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