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Diethylcarbamazine citrate kills the young worms, which are produced by mating adult parasites at a rate of up to 1,000 per day. The donation - 100 kg of active ingredient--will be used to fortify the salt that Haitians consume so that the average Haitian will ingest about 17.5 g of diethylcarbamazine citrate in one year, he explains. The gift could treat up to 10,000 Haitians for one year, depending on how effectively it is delivered through salt.
More than half of Haiti's 9 million people are infected with the parasite. Program hopes to treat half a million people by 2003 and 5 million by 2004. At this level, the program would need 50,000 kg of diethylcarbamazine citrate per year.
"We hope donor Co. will continue the generosity of donating the powder we need for the salt fortification as it ramps up.
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