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 21 deaths and 147 hospitalizations from Oct. 4-11, said Michelle Karshan, co-founder of the nonprofit.