UN Calls for Action to Prevent Spread of HIV/AIDS in Haiti

UNAIDS, a inter-agency project providing information and support services in the fight against acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome, is calling for action to prevent the spread of the AIDS virus in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. A study by UNAIDS warns of a substantial risk of the spread of the deadly virus in overcrowded camps for Haitian survivors of the disaster.

Haiti is a country known for being the Carribean country most severely affected by the AIDS epidemic. In a disaster, resource to quality healthcare is diminished as has been proven in the wake of the Haitian earthquake. "We estimate that there were 120,000 people living with HIV in Haiti," said the Director of Technical and Country Tim Martineau. "At the end of last year, there were roughly about 19,000 people receiving treatment with a significant curve. An important concern obviously is for us to maintain treatment for that population group. But, we also anticipate that that figure will rise to about 32,000 this year. So, there is a need to maintain services, but also to scale them up." Of these figures, 53% of those affected are women, and 60% of the population living with HIV/AIDS lives in parts of the country with serious earthquake damage.

UNAIDS had requested $130 million for HIV prevention and treatment programs in Haiti before the earthquake struck. Martineau says twice that amount will now be needed this year. He says seven work priorities include rebuilding the health system, protecting displaced people from HIV, and rebuilding the local and national networks of people living with the virus.