HIV-Positive Haitians Struggle for Survival One Year After the Earthquake

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, devastated an HIV/AIDS care system that allowed the country to successfully control its epidemic.

In the quake's wake, fewer than 40 percent of HIV/AIDS patients could access their antiretroviral (ARV) medicines. Up to 1 million displaced people began living in camps, which were then threatened by a cholera outbreak last fall.

One year later, "It looks the same as the very day of the quake," said Nadine Juste-Beckles of New York City's Housing Works, herself a Haitian-American. CEO Charles King noted that more than half of Port-au-Prince's AIDS clinics were leveled by the earthquake. Housing Works was among the first agencies to arrive in Haiti and deliver ARVs.

Housing Works has partnered with three other New York-based non-profits to support two new HIV/AIDS clinics in Haiti. The first and smaller clinic, in Port-au-Prince, is run by a coalition of 12 Haitian AIDS organizations; it treats up to 20 patients per day. The clinic in St. Marc, outside the disaster zone, is run by the Foundation Esther Boucicault Stanislaus. It treats up to 75 patients a day and cannot keep up with demand, said Boucicault, who was the first person in Haiti to disclose her HIV status.

SEROvie, the country's largest organization serving HIV-positive gay and transgender persons, lost most of its staff and its building to the earthquake. The group is rebuilding its presence on Facebook and sending out text messages to clients about medications and other services available.

UNAIDS has established mobile HIV testing, in addition to 68 sites to provide ARVs and 117 to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. Still, Beatrice Dalencourt Turnier, a social mobilization officer for the agency, noted that doctors at just one tent-camp clinic "are seeing at least 15 to 20 new cases each day."

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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