Internewscast Journal
  • Home
  • US News
  • Local News
  • Health
  • People
  • Guest Post
  • Support Our Cause
Internewscast Journal
  • Home
  • US News
  • Local News
  • Health
  • People
  • Guest Post
  • Support Our Cause
Home Local news Haitians Living with HIV Speak Out Against USAID Cuts and Medication Shortages
  • Local news

Haitians Living with HIV Speak Out Against USAID Cuts and Medication Shortages

    Haitians with HIV defy stigma as they publicly denounce USAID cuts and dwindling medication
    Up next
    Watch your pony tail! Some tourists have been known to ignore signs warning them that the Guard horse can bite or kick
    Instances When Tourists Have Angered the King’s Guard — And Why They Respond So Strictly
    Published on 24 May 2025
    Author
    Internewscast
    Tags
    • Alain Casseus,
    • and,
    • cuts,
    • David Jeune,
    • defy,
    • denounce,
    • Donald Trump,
    • dwindling,
    • Eugene Maklin,
    • Haitians,
    • health,
    • hiv,
    • Louis Gérald Gilles,
    • Marie Denis Luque,
    • medication,
    • Patrick Jean Noël,
    • publicly,
    • Sabine Lustin,
    • Stigma,
    • they,
    • usaid,
    • with,
    • world news
    Share this @internewscast.com
    FacebookXRedditPinterest

    PORT-AU-PRINCE – Recently, a video circulating on social media showed a large group advancing towards Haiti’s prime minister’s office. The footage drew surprise from many viewers because the protesters, who were openly HIV positive, revealed their identities—something uncommon in a country where the virus carries a significant stigma.

    “Call the minister of health! We are dying!” the group chanted.

    The demonstrators faced the possibility of social exclusion to highlight a critical issue: Haiti is nearing a shortage of HIV medication, a situation intensified by the recent move from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to cut more than 90% of USAID’s foreign assistance contracts, along with a $60 billion reduction in global aid.

    At a hospital near the northern city of Cap-Haitien, Dr. Eugene Maklin said he struggles to share that reality with his more than 550 HIV patients.

    “It’s hard to explain to them, to tell them that they’re not going to find medication,” he said. “It’s like a suicide.”

    ‘We can’t stay silent’

    More than 150,000 people in Haiti have HIV or AIDS, according to official estimates, although nonprofits believe the number is much higher.

    Included in the group is David Jeune, a 46-year-old hospital community worker. He contracted the virus 19 years ago following unprotected sex. “I was afraid to disclose my status because people would accuse you of spreading AIDS,” he explained.

    His fear was so great that he didn’t tell anyone, not even his mother. But that fear dissipated with the support Jeune said he received from nonprofits. His confidence grew to the point where he participated in Monday’s protest.

    “I hope Trump will change his mind,” he said, noting that his medication will run out in November. “Let the poor people get the medication they need.”

    Patrick Jean Noël, a representative of Haiti’s Federation of Associations of HIV, said that at least five clinics, including one that served 2,500 patients, were forced to close after the USAID funding cuts.

    “We can’t stay silent,” he said. “More people need to come out.”

    But most people with HIV in Haiti are reluctant to do so, said Dr. Sabine Lustin, executive director of the Haiti-based nonprofit Promoters of Zero AIDS Goal.

    The stigma is so strong that many patients are reluctant to pick up their medication in person. Instead, it is sent via packages wrapped as gifts to not arouse suspicion, Lustin said.

    Lustin’s organization, which helps some 2,000 people across Haiti, receives funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While their funding hasn’t been cut, she said that shortly after Trump was sworn in, the agency banned prevention activities because they targeted a group that is not a priority. By that, Lustin said she understood they were referring to gay men.

    That means the organization can no longer distribute up to 200,000 free condoms a year or educate people about the disease.

    “You risk an increase in infections,” she said. “You have a young population who is sexually active who can’t receive the prevention message and don’t have access to condoms.”

    ‘We only have medication until July’

    On a recent sunny morning, a chorus of voices drowned out the din of traffic in Haiti’s capital, growing louder as protesters with HIV marched defiantly toward the office of Haiti’s prime minister.

    “We are here to tell the government that we exist, and we are people like any other person,” one woman told reporters.

    Another marching alongside her said, “Without medication, we are dying. This needs to change.”

    Three days after Monday’s protest, the leader of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, Louis Gérald Gilles, announced that he had met with activists and would try to secure funding.

    Meanwhile, nonprofit organizations across Haiti are fretting.

    “I don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Marie Denis-Luque, founder and executive director of CHOAIDS, a nonprofit that cares for Haitian orphans with HIV/AIDS. “We only have medication until July.”

    Her voice broke as she described her frantic search for donations for the orphans, who are cared for by HIV-positive women in Cap-Haitien after gang violence forced them to leave Port-au-Prince.

    Denis-Luque said she has long advocated for the orphans’ visibility.

    “We can’t keep hiding these children. They are part of society,” she said, adding that she smiled when she saw the video of Monday’s protest. “I was like, whoa, things have changed tremendously. The stigma is real, but I think what I saw … was very encouraging to me. They can’t be silenced.”

    A dangerous combination

    Experts say Haiti could see a rise in HIV infections because medications are dwindling at a time that gang violence and poverty are surging.

    Dr. Alain Casseus, infectious disease division chief at Zamni Lasante, the largest non-governmental healthcare provider in Haiti, said they expected to see a surge in patients given the funding cuts, but that hasn’t happened because traveling by land in Haiti is dangerous since violent gangs control main roads and randomly open fire on vehicles.

    He warned that abruptly stopping medication is dangerous, especially because many Haitians do not have access or cannot afford nutritious food to strengthen their immune system.

    “It wouldn’t take long, especially given the situation in Haiti, to enter a very bad phase,” he said of HIV infections. And even if some funding becomes available, a lapse in medication could cause resistance to it, he said.

    Casseus said gang violence also could accelerate the rates of infection via rapes or physical violence as medication runs out.

    At the New Hope Hospital run by Maklin in Haiti’s northern region, shelves are running empty. He used to receive more than $165,000 a year to help HIV/AIDS patients. But that funding has dried up.

    “Those people are going to die,” he said. “We don’t know how or where we’re going to get more medication.”

    The medication controls the infection and allows many to have an average life expectancy. Without it, the virus attacks a person’s immune system, and they develop AIDS, the late stage of an HIV infection.

    Reaction is swift when Dr. Maklin tells his patients that in two months, the hospital won’t have any HIV medication left.

    “They say, ‘No, no, no, no!’” he said. “They want to keep living.”

    ___

    Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    ____

    Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

    Share this @internewscast.com
    FacebookXRedditPinterest
    You May Also Like
    1 in 5 new car buyers take on $1,000 monthly payments
    • Local news

    20% of new car buyers are opting for $1,000 monthly payments

    (NewsNation) — Once considered rare, $1,000 car payments are fast becoming the…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025

    "Challenging Day Ahead: Search Continues for Missing Children and Adults in Kerrville"

    AUSTIN (KXAN) The city of Kerrville and Kerr County provided another update…
    • Internewscast
    • July 5, 2025
    US tariffs on European goods threaten to shake up the world's largest 2-way trade relationship
    • Local news

    US Tariffs on European Goods Could Disrupt Major Global Trade Partnership

    FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) America’s largest trade partner, the European Union, is among…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Dalai Lama turns 90, gets global support in challenge for China
    • Local news

    Worldwide Backing as Dalai Lama Celebrates 90th Birthday Amidst Challenges with China

    The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama, marked his 90th…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    "Premature and problematic": DA Cook Jones on leaders' statements
    • Local news

    “DA Cook Jones Criticizes Leaders’ Statements as ‘Premature and Problematic'”

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — After the incident at Oglethorpe Mall, Chatham County District…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    How weather conditions set the stage for the deadly Texas flash floods
    • Local news

    How Weather Contributed to the Devastating Flash Floods in Texas

    WASHINGTON – The air was saturated with moisture, which powered a slow-moving…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Iran's supreme leader makes first public appearance since Iran-Israel war started
    • Local news

    Iran’s Supreme Leader Breaks Silence with First Public Appearance Since Start of Iran-Israel Conflict

    TEHRAN – On Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his…
    • Internewscast
    • July 5, 2025
    Ozzy Osbourne says farewell to live performance with a hometown show for 40,000 fans
    • Local news

    Ozzy Osbourne bids goodbye to live concerts with a final show for 40,000 fans in his hometown

    LONDON – Rock legends and around 40,000 fans came together for a…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Sights and sounds from Champaign County's annual Freedom Celebration
    • Local news

    Scenes and Sounds from Champaign County’s Annual Freedom Celebration

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — For yet another year, it was all about…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Central Texas flash floods: Why were they so catastrophic?
    • Local news

    Devastating Flash Floods in Central Texas: What Made Them So Severe?

    AUSTIN (KXAN) – In the overnight hours of July 3 and 4,…
    • Internewscast
    • July 5, 2025
    Mendota man pleads guilty to witness tampering
    • Local news

    Hampton resident facing charges for sharing child pornography accepts plea agreement

    A man from Hampton, Carter County, Tennessee, who faced accusations of uploading…
    • Internewscast
    • July 5, 2025
    Kristi Noem addresses concerns about warnings sent during Texas storms
    • Local news

    Kristi Noem Discusses Texas Storm Warning Alerts and Related Concerns

    Flooding has led to an annual average of over 125 fatalities in…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Man who whipped stepchildren with extension cord hears fate
    • Crime

    Judge Delivers Sentence for Man Who Used Extension Cord to Discipline Stepchildren

    Lerenzo Legardy (Dona Ana County Jail). A man from New Mexico, who…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Here's where Trump's approval ratings stand on key issues
    • Local news

    Current State of Trump’s Approval Ratings on Major Issues

    (The Hill) President Donald Trump’s approval ratings remain underwater as he gets…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Wimbledon Centre Court clash in chaos after AI line judge bungles call
    • News

    Chaos Ensues at Wimbledon Centre Court Following AI Line Judge Error

    Wimbledon found itself in another embarrassing line-call controversy when Anastasia…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Couple in swimwear posing on a boat.
    • US

    Gulf Coast Stapletons Influencer Stands by Husband After He Pleads Guilty to 20 Charges Related to Child Abuse Images

    AN INFLUENCER has defended her husband online after he was sentenced to…
    • Internewscast
    • July 6, 2025
    Internewscast Journal
    • Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • DMCA Notice
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Guest Post
    • Support Our Cause
    Copyright 2023. All Right Reserverd.