Why should I care about HIV/AIDS?
- Because it's here, it may even be beside you.
-A person can live with the disease and look healthy and active like a regular HIV negative person.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
HIV/AIDS in Haiti after earthquake
“After the earthquake in 2010, sexual violence in Haiti went through the roof. The most vulnerable people, children and women, were more than ever exposed to rape and abuse. It was really, really bad. Men would grab them in their tents, just like that,” says Marie Sonie Brizon, a 23 year-old woman who lives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
However:
Haitian infection rates dropped from 6.2 percent to 3.1 percent among expectant mothers in the last 15 years. Researchers recently switched to a new methodology that tests all adults, which puts Haiti's official rate at 2.2 percent, according to UNAIDS
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31755066/ns/health-aids/t/haiti-surprise-good-news-about-aids/#.VUjaBKHD8dU
http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/haiti/
The chart above shows;
Black (Africa) - HIV-1 ancestor in Africa.
Green (Haiti) - Virus migrates from Africa to Haiti ~1966.
Yellow (US) - Virus migrates from Haiti to the US ~1969 then rapidly disperses in worldwide.
HIV went directly from Africa to Haiti, then spread to the United States and much of the rest of the world beginning around 1969, suggests an international team of researchers. The findings settle a key debate on the history and transmission route of the deadly virus, the scientists say.
Even before HIV was identified as the cause of AIDS, Haiti's role in the disease epidemic had been hotly debated.
When AIDS was officially recognized in 1981 in the U.S., for instance, the unusually high prevalence of the disease in Haitian immigrants fueled speculation that the Caribbean island was the source of the mysterious illness.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Photo credit: http://www.favaca.org/?q=node/96
Sacred Sports Foundation is a nonprofit organization in St. Lucia dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles, social inclusion, drug avoidance, and HIV/AIDS awareness while mentoring in leadership
- The above chart shows HIV/AIDS statistics in 2011.
HIV/AIDS IN GUYANA- FIGHTING STIGMA & DISCRIMINATION
Sandra, a woman from Guyana tells her story about being HIV positive. The stigma and discrimination she face because of her status and the neglect from her family and friends,
INVISIBLE: Children living with HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago
"Invisible" focuses on the story of a woman named Veronica* and her two children. Both the mother and her young daughter are HIV-positive and face the bitter effects of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago.
Hated to Death: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/11/15/hated-death-0
HIV/AIDS is on an increase in Jamaica with an estimated 1.5 percent of people infected. However, the stigma of Jamaican homosexuals with HIV/AIDS which are enforced by law enforcement and the public has caused HIV positive homosexuals to be reluctant about seeking help for their illness. The link between HIV/AIDS and homosexuality in Jamaica has also resulted in HIV prevention programs and services to be negatively targeted within the community. People infected with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica also face difficulties receiving treatment in health facilities because health workers discriminate against them, provide poor care, talk to them in demeaning manners and even denying them treatment.
Walking on the Other Side: Three voices from Jamaica's Gay Community (1...
“With HIV, because it’s seen as a gay thing, there’s a lot of shame. If someone finds out they are positive, they’re afraid that everyone will assume they are gay, so it’s best to keep it to yourself.”
- HIV Positive man, Jamaica
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