As part of the celebration of World AIDS Day in Haiti, the UNAIDS country team recalled that the number of HIV-positive people in Haiti receiving medical treatment had more than doubled from 2010 to 2015 (more than 82,500 to date). Moreover, new infections have decreased by more than 27% since 2004 and deaths related to this disease by 49% since 2008.

Nevertheless, 150,961 people still live with HIV / AIDS in Haiti, according to official records, and the prevalence among girls aged 15 to 24 is three times higher than for boys of the same age.

Haiti is a priority country for accelerating the phase-out of HIV by 2030. By 2016, the rate of HIV transmission from mothers to their babies at 6 weeks of life has increased to 4.23% That it was more than 12% in 2010. Despite these advances, 7,500 HIV-positive people die each year in Haiti (nearly 20 people every day).

The prevalence rate among adults aged 15-49 years is 2.2% (1.7% for men and 2.7% for women), but it is 12.9% for men who have sex with men and 8.7% among prostitutes of both genders.

It should be recalled that the spread of HIV in Haiti is linked to multiple factors such as poverty, low educational attainment, intergenerational intercourse, gender inequalities and limited access to HIV prevention and treatment services.

Sensitization actions such as screening and non-discrimination are part of the overall national strategy for the elimination of AIDS, which also includes making treatment available to people with AIDS.

HL/ HaitiLibre