Concerns grow as cholera spreads through Haiti’s prisons

By DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A nonprofit organization is calling on Haiti’s government to release certain inmates amid a swift rise in cholera cases throughout the country’s severely crowded prison system. Health through Walls, which provides medical care to prisoners in Haiti, noted in a letter Tuesday that not only inmates are at risk, but also security guards, kitchen workers and health staff. Medical staff working at the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince, which is Haiti’s largest prison with more than 4,000 inmates, have reported at least 20 deaths, five confirmed cases and another 200 cases of extreme diarrhea in just one week, said Michelle Karshan, co-founder of the nonprofit.