The Impact of Disaster on HIV in Haiti and Priority Areas Related to the Haitian Crisis

Abstract

In recognition of the public health crisis in Haiti, the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC) plans to publish a themed issue on natural disaster, trauma, and HIV in Haiti. The issue will be published in early 2011. Haiti’s current crisis is exacerbated by a history of poverty and political instability and some effort is warranted to contextualize the crisis and to focus on priorities for HIV prevention and care. This commentary provides background information and a discussion of areas that affect HIV-infected Haitians in the present environment. ment of Health Promotion & Disease Prevention and AIDS Prevention Program, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Florida International University, Background Biscayne Bay Campus, North Miami. Bronwen Lichtenstein, PhD, is an associate professor, Department of Criminal Justice, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, research fellow, Rural Center of AIDS/STD Prevention, Indiana University, Bloomington. Jessy G. D evieux, PhD, is an associate professor, Department of Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, and a co-director of the AIDS Prevention Program, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Florida International University, Biscayne Bay Campus, North Miami. The authors report no real or perceived vested interests that relate to this article (including relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, grantors, or other entities whose products or services are related to topics covered in this manuscript) that could be construed as a conflict of interest. This study was funded in part by Grant R01AA018084 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to Dr. Malow. The HIV prevention community is largely familiar with Haiti’s history of high prevalence of HIV. However, health workers and others might not be aware of Haiti’s robust scientific and clinical response to the epidemic or the particular character of the Haitian epidemic, which is complicated by high rates of co-infection with malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and several neglected tropical diseases (NTDs; Beau de Rochars et al. 2004; Hotez, Bottazzi, Franco-Paredes, Ault, & Periago, 2008; Pape, 2004; Streit & Lafontant, 2008). These infections compound the challenge of HIV prevention and treatment in ways rarely seen by researchers and practitioners in developed countries.