Fears are mounting for Haitians living with HIV/AIDs who are not receiving essential medical services and support in the wake of the earthquake that struck the island on January 12.
The quake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale of which the epicenter was 17 km from the capital Port-au-Prince, where two million people resided.
More than 150,000 were thought to have perished.
Two days after the quake, the Foundation for AIDs Research, AmFAR, reported on its website that 14 members attending a SEROvie meeting, which provides outreach and HIV/AIDS-related services to men who have sex with men (MSM), were killed in the quake and one staff member also remained missing.
Steve La Guerre, the leader of SEROvie, sent an impassioned plea to Cary Alan Johnson, the Executive Director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, saying: ‘We were having our usual support group meeting on a quiet Tuesday afternoon when the worst happened.
‘The sound is unforgettable. I can’t even describe the horror as the ceiling and the wall of the conference room started to fall and the chaos started.
‘Fourteen young men were lost forever in the earthquake. Paul Emile, the leader of the group, and Stacy were the only survivors.
‘It is now more than ever that SEROvie and ACCV (Civic Action Against HIV) are needed to provide the quality services we have been providing to our beneficiaries: food, clothes, and any type of help is needed for our members. Any help will do.
‘Light a candle for these souls and for Haiti. Lord help us.’
Consequently the IGLHRC has set up a specific fund for SEROvie, which can be donated to by visiting the website – http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/takeaction/globalactionalerts/1074.html
Meanwhile the World Health Organisation has released a report on the disaster, which has called for the emergency response to include ‘a minimum package of HIV prevention, treatment and care services, including the strengthening of standard precautions, with the provision of gloves, sterile needles and syringes, and safe waste disposal management in health services’.
In 2005, WHO and UNAIDs estimated 120,000 people in Haiti were living with HIV, with the local Ministry of Health and Population reporting in 2008 that more than 19,000 patients receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART).
‘Efforts should be made to ensure that HIV/AIDS patients receiving ART do not have their treatment interrupted and that ART is provided for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV,’ the report said.
Tuberculosis is the highest health cause of the Haitian mortality rate. Of the 71 people in 100,000 who died from TB in 2007, 23 percent were HIV positive.
The report has called for ‘priority interventions for immediate implementation to include continuity of care for chronic diseases such as HIV and TB’.
It also acknowledged the importance of providing HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) kits to health-care workers, search and rescue workers ‘in case of accidental exposure to contaminated blood and body fluids’.
‘The protection of safe blood supply is essential,’ the report said.
‘Blood should be screened under national standards for HIV antibodies, syphilis, malaria and hepatitis B.
‘The emergency relief package should include rapid or conventional test kits to screen donated blood for these diseases which are common in Haiti.
‘A rapid assessment of availability of these tests is necessary.’
Aja Styles
