ARTICLE - KIMSE YOK MU TO OPEN HOSPITAL

KIMSE YOK MU TO OPEN HOSPITAL IN CHOLERA-STRICKEN HAITI
(Today's Zaman)

Turkish charitable organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) is planning to construct a hospital in Haiti, which was hit by a destructive earthquake in January and is currently fighting against a cholera epidemic.

At least 2,000 people have been killed by cholera since October, when the epidemic first emerged. There are concerns that over 90,000 people have contracted the disease.

The hospital will be constructed in the Croix-des-Bouqets area of Port-au-Prince, where all hospitals were damaged by the earthquake. The hospital will accommodate 46 in-bed patients.

Kimse Yok Mu plans to invite Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Samsun deputy Birnur Şahinoğlu to the opening ceremony of the hospital. Mehmet Özkara, the organization's president, said the ceremony will also be attended by the prime minister, health minister and interior minister of Haiti.

Last month, the United Nations asked for $164 million to fight the cholera outbreak in Haiti. It was an appeal primarily directed to countries, but also to international and regional organizations. The funds will be used by the UN and nongovernmental organizations to bring in additional doctors, medicines and water purification equipment to treat the tens of thousands of people who present cholera symptoms.