Haiti is one of the countries in the world that is most vulnerable to diseases. The greatest factor that makes it among the leaders in spread of diseases is the high level of poverty of its citizens. According to Murray (2014) most of the Haitians live on less than $2 per day. The country relies heavily on foreign aid to meet the needs of the citizens. That means that the government does not have enough resources to provide essential services for the public. The high levels of poverty make it difficult for people to access healthcare services. As such, infectious diseases spread so fast among people.
HIV in Haiti is not an emerging concern rather; it is a challenge that has been in existence for a long time. In fact, as early as at the beginning of the 1980s, experts at the Center for Disease Control pointed out that there were four groups that were at risk of contracting HIV: hemophiliacs, homosexuals, heroin users, and Haitians. This category, variously referred to as the “4H Club,” had several implications for Haiti (Koenig et al., 2010). First, Haiti’s tourism industry, which was the country’s second largest source of foreign income dropped by approximately 80 percent. The first reason is that the tourists feared that they would contract the disease if they visited the island country. The second reason is that the various countries where majority of the tourists came from issued travel advisories to their citizens. Thirdly, there was a relatively high stigma in the 1980s concerning the disease. It is because people thought that the disease could be contracted through shaking of hands, sharing items, and so on. Perhaps it was the reason that made the US government to stop importing goods from Haiti. The drastic move by a majority of the powerful countries in the world made Haiti to sink into an abyss of poverty, consequently leading to a high spread of the disease.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Before the occurrence of the earthquake, both the national government, the international community, and non-government organizations had put efforts in place to reduce HIV infections. The various stakeholders did not only supply medications to the infected people but also educated and enlisted them to help themselves. Consequently, the rate of HIV prevalence in Haiti dropped from 9.4 percent in 1993 to 3.7 percent in 2003, among pregnant women that were tested, and to 2.2 percent in all the population of adults by 2008 (Margesson & Taft-Morales, 2010). The drop was so significant that Haiti was used as a model to demonstrate that it was possible to combat the HIV epidemic. The international community was so much focused on combating the epidemic using short-term approaches that they forgot to consider long-term solutions.
After the 12 th January, 2010 earthquake seemingly interfered with all the HIV treatment and prevention efforts that had been put in place by the various stakeholders. According to (), the earthquake led to the loss of approximately 217, 000 lives, injury to about 300,000, and displaced over one million people. According to the report that was released jointly by the USAID and the Department of State, the earthquake destroyed over 46 hospitals and clinics and damaged 38 others severely ( UNAIDS, 2010) . The report also revealed that cost of the infrastructure and the supplies that were destroyed was in the excess of $373 million. Such a cost is so high to a country of the status of height.
Stating that the implications of the earthquake were devastating is an understatement. First, the damage caused to the health facilities meant that HIV victims could not access the services of the facilities. Even if some could to be accessed, the medical supplies had been destroyed, making it impossible for people living with HIV to get adequate care. Additionally, some of the medical personnel had died as a consequence of the earthquake, while others had been severely injured. The few remaining healthcare facilities witnessed a strain on their resources Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, 2018) . Many of the healthcare facilities had budgeted according to the estimates they had. The tragedy forced some of them to interfere with their programs or to deny admission to new patients. It was also a challenge for people who had got used to medical specialists in their previous health centers to adjust to the new treatment programs.
One of the effects of the earthquake is that it led to the migration of people from the affected areas to safer places, especially to urban areas. It was difficult to ascertain whether those infected with HIV were still alive or had died. The displacement was particularly challenging to the stakeholders in regard to the implementation of their treatment and prevention programs. New places that might have had less prevalence of the disease began to witness an upsurge in the prevalence of the disease ( Pulitzer Center, 2018) . Concerning budgeting, it was a challenge in determining the places that required more support in comparison to others.
Perhaps one of the prominent consequences of the earthquake was the increase in poverty levels. People’s structures were destroyed and did not have food. The loss necessitated the creation of camps where people lived in tents. The situation in the tents was so deplorable that the international community had to intervene. The living conditions in the IDP camps contributed to a large extent the spread of the disease. In an article published by Pulitzer Center (2018), one of those affected by the earthquake was quoted saying that there was no entertainment in the camps and the only thing that people would do is having sex. One of the social issues that arose in the camps was prostitution. Since there was no other commercial activity to engage in, women who had families had to engage in irresponsible sexual activities to provide for the families.
Another issue that emerged in the camps concerned some officials who demanded for sexual favors before they would provide assistance to those who needed help, particularly women. Most women did not have any choice other than yielding to the demands of such officials. Sex, whether forced or consensual, was a major factor that contributed to the high prevalence post the earthquake. In fact, according to Johnson & Stoskopf (2010), there were about fifteen to twenty new cases of HIV infections every week just in a single week. Such a rate is so high that if the situation was to be left undeterred, almost everyone in the country would be at risk of contracting the disease. One of the major causes of the spread of the diseases in Haiti after the earthquake is that people in the country still stigmatize those infected. As such, most of those living with the condition do not expose their status for fear of intimidation. That means that those infected try to live as normally as possible and are likely to yield to success demands to prove that they do not have any infections.
The immediate response by the Haiti government and the international community to the situation was provision of shelter and food. The move was justifiable because the two are basic needs, which people cannot live without. However, most stakeholders forgot that the country was still battling with the HIV epidemic. Looking at the conditions under which people lived, it would be inevitable for them to engage in sexual activities. But most of the people in the camps had not known each other before the occurrence of the earthquake instead; it was the earthquake calamity that brought them together. As mentioned earlier that there was no entertainment in the camps or something that would make the IDPs to pass time, they would definitely engage in sexual activities. Dubique (2014) reports that some of the IDPs asked the officials to provide them with condoms but they treated their request as a non-issue. Seemingly, the provision of food was the most urgent issue. That means that people continued to engage in unprotected sex.
Nevertheless, international organizations such as the USAID and the UNAID, after being pressured by activists, came in to address the issue. The immediate response was offering condoms to be used as protection. Secondly, the organizations constructed centers within the camps where people would go for voluntary testing and counselling (Corcoran & Roberts, 2015). That means that medical supplies were also provided. The most common drugs that were provided were anti-retroviral drugs (ARVS). As a result of the sexual activities in the camps, it became necessary that experts stop the transfer of the disease from the infected mothers to their children. However, it also became essential for the organizations to conduct education programs as a preventative measure.
Summarily, Haiti is a country that has been battling with a lot of challenges. Apart from poverty, the spread of HIV remains one of the prominent social issues that affects the population. HIV was still a concern before the earthquake but became more prevalent after the earthquake. It is because the government and the international community forgot about the epidemic and focused on providing the most urgent concerns such as food and shelter. The relevant stakeholders only delved into the matter after a public outcry. However, the rates of infections were so high that many experts thought it was impossible to reduce the infections. On treatment and prevention, most organizations provided condoms, ARVs, and educated the population on how to live responsibly.
References
Corcoran, K., & Roberts, A. R. (Eds.). (2015). Social workers' desk reference . Oxford University Press, USA.
Dubique, K. (2014). Humanitarian aid after the 2010 Haitian earthquake: the case of accompaniment (Doctoral dissertation).
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. (2018 ). After the Earthquake: Battling AIDS in Haiti . Ijdh.org . Retrieved 26 April 2018, from http://www.ijdh.org/2010/04/topics/housing/after-the-earthquake-battling-aids-in-haiti/
Johnson, J. A., & Stoskopf, C. H. (Eds.). (2010). Comparative health systems: global perspectives . Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Koenig, S., Ivers, L. C., Pace, S., Destine, R., Leandre, F., Grandpierre, R., ... & Pape, J. W. (2010). Successes and challenges of HIV treatment programs in Haiti: aftermath of the earthquake. HIV therapy , 4 (2), 145-160.
Margesson, R., & Taft-Morales, M. (2010, February). Haiti earthquake: Crisis and response. Library of Congress Washington DC Congressional Research Service.
Murray, G. (2014). Killing with Kindness: Haiti, International Aid, and NGOs. New West Indian Guide , 88 (1), 161-163.
Pulitzer Center. (2018). After the Quake: HIV/AIDS in Haiti . Pulitzer Center . Retrieved 26 April 2018, from https://pulitzercenter.org/projects/caribbean/after-quake-hivaids-haiti
UNAIDS Outlook report: July, 2010 . (2010). Geneva: World Health Organization.
