HEALTH

Cholera Medicine Sits Unused Amid Outbreak

Updated: October 29, 2010 | 10:42 a.m.
October 28, 2010 | 8:49 a.m.

As the death toll in the Haiti cholera outbreak continues to rise, reports say much-needed medical supplies are sitting unused in Haitian warehouses.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta said on CNN's American Morning today that the largest supply of medicine that helps stave off the disease is locked up in a World Health Organization warehouse in Haiti. Pallets of medicine with labels dating back to July are stacked on the shelves still in safety wrap.

Warehouse coordinator Christian Morales could not give a definitive answer as to why the medicine is not being released, but he cited fears of running out if things get worse.

“If we send everything we have here today, tomorrow we cannot answer for the 100,000 cases” that could come, he told Gupta.

Health aides and doctors must put in request forms to get the medication to distribute in communities affected by the disease, which has killed almost 300 people and infected more than 4,000 to date.

This article has been corrected since its initial publication. It misstated the  month the medicine labels dated back to, as well as the number of medicine cases.

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