HAITI PROTEST AT THE U.N. WED 3/31: NYC RELIGIOUS AND HEALTH GROUPS TO JOIN HAITIAN AIDS ACTIVISTS
What: Demonstration to force the U.N. and the U.S. to adopt a relief plan for Haitians living with AIDS and expand access to AIDS medications in Haiti
Who: More than 100 activists from African Services Committee, Bailey House; CitiWide Harm Reduction; Housing Works; Metropolitan Community Church; the Haitian AIDS coalition PHAP+ and others
Where: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th St. and 1st Ave.
When: Wednesday, March 31, 2010, at 8:30 AM
New York City’s health care, AIDS, and religious communities will join Haitian AIDS activists at a large protest outside of the United Nations on Wednesday, March 31 at 8:30 AM, the same day on which the UN will be meeting to discuss the future of Haiti.
Uncoordinated relief efforts are leaving Haitians vulnerable to AIDS and endangering Haitians living with the disease—activists are demanding that the U.N. and the U.S. adopt and execute a targeted relief effort before it’s too late.
“The United Nations and USAID have been promising a real plan to provide desperately needed medical care to people with HIV since the relief efforts began. We can no longer tolerate their inaction. We must tell the world what is going on,” said Esther Boucicault, president of PHAP+, the Haitian group spearheading the protest.
The devastating January 12 earthquake in Haiti nearly wiped out the country’s AIDS infrastructure. More than two months ago, a U.N. report acknowledged that AIDS healthcare in Haiti is “under serious threat” and that it is “imperative” that relief efforts address AIDS. Yet neither the U.N. nor the U.S. has a plan to do so.
PHAP+, a coalition of grassroots Haitian AIDS organizations led by people living with the disease, will be joined at the U.N. by an array of New York City-based organizations including African Services Committee, Bailey House; CitiWide Harm Reduction; Housing Works and Metropolitan Community Church.
Protestors or also demanding expanded access to antiretroviral medications. Since the earthquake, PHAP+ has opened two new HIV clinics and provided significant support to one family health clinic, but has been unable to obtain cooperation from The Global Fund in order to get access to its stockpile of AIDS medications.
There are 120,000 Haitians living with HIV/AIDS. According to UNAIDS:
- The majority of AIDS treatment facilities and clinics in Port-au- Prince, Jacmel, Leogane and Petit Goâve have been destroyed.
- Fewer than 40% of Haitians who were receiving AIDS-related care before the quake receive it now.
- More than 1 million Haitians are living in tent cities. (Sexual violence and exploitation in the camps threatens to increase HIV infections.)
Since the January 12 earthquake, Housing Works has been collaborating with PHAP+, along with other New York City-based organizations to support three clinics in Haiti. For complete information on these clinics, go to www.housingworks.org/haiti.
ABOUT PHAP+
Plateforme Haitienne des Associations de PVVIH is a national association of 13 Haitian AIDS groups led by people living with HIV/AIDS. Members who will attend the protest include SéroVie; REHPIVIIH; Greater Involvement of People with AIDS—GIPA; and Fondation Esther Boucicault Stanislas.
ABOUT HOUSING WORKS
Housing Works is the U.S.‘s largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation’s largest minority-controlled AIDS organization. Since 1990, Housing Works has provided a comprehensive array of lifesaving services, such as housing, medical and dental care, meals, case management, counseling and job training, to more than 20,000 homeless or low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. For more information, visit www.HousingWorks.org.
Posted on March 29, 2010 at 6:14 pm
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