Hospital Becomes First Public Medical Facility in Haiti to Deliver Antiretroviral Treatment

JANUARY 2004 — Doctors at Immaculate Conception Hospital in Cayes, Haiti, began delivering life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART) to 17 HIV-positive patients last month. This is the first public hospital in Haiti to provide such services. Haiti's Minister of Health, Dr. Josette Bijoux; French and American diplomatic representatives; officials from CDC, USAID, FHI and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and Haitian government officials attended a special ceremony on Dec. 14 to mark the historic event.

It took 18 months to renovate the hospital so that it can provide HIV/AIDS treatment services to clients. FHI/Haiti led the collaborative renovation effort, which involved Haitian, French and U.S. government agencies. U.S. government support is part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which designated Haiti as one of its 15 focus countries.

Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus (RPM+), a project led by Management Sciences for Health, is supplying medications from Emergency Plan funds. Le Groupe Haïtien d'Etude du Sarcome de Kaposi et des Infections Opportunistes (GHESKIO), a Haitian nonprofit, is using funds from the Emergency Plan and the Global Fund to provide clinical antiretroviral training to staff. FHI/Haiti is strengthening the capacity of the Departmental Directorate to scale up the national HIV/AIDS program from social mobilization to ART provision to clients.

Only about 3,500 Haitians have access to antiretroviral drugs through existing private programs — out of an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 in need. To increase access to treatment, FHI is helping prepare four additional public sites to deliver ART. The national goal is to treat at least 9,000 people at 14 sites throughout Haiti by the end of 2005.

Photo: Immaculate Conception Hospital in Cayes is the first public hospital in Haiti to offer antiretroviral treatment to patients. (Jean Robert Brutus) View a larger image.