Thursday, March 29, 2007

Colombia: Gov’t slow to respond to health crisis

Colombia’s government has just begun to spring into life in response to a health crisis in Chocó province. Though the government has been on the defensive citing the funds they have sent to Chocó, local health officials and community leaders have claimed an increase in the number of children affected by severe malnutrition and hunger.

Chocó is located in the northwestern part of the country and is the only province that has coasts on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is also one of the poorest provinces in Colombia with approximately 1 in 4 inhabitants of African descent. Lately, it has become a center for thousands of displaced people fleeing civil conflict.


Links- El Tiempo, BBC News, RCN, Wikipedia, Information Services Latin America, Refugees International

Image- International Red Cross (Red Cross doctor helping a child in an indigenous community of Chocó)

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