Thursday, December 1st, 2022, the Prime Minister a.i., Ariel Henry, participated in the activities of the 35th World AIDS Day at the Hotel Montana.

The opportunity for the Head of Government to show his solidarity with people living with HIV and to renew his commitment to strengthening our health system.

"The fight against AIDS celebrated today throughout the world is an opportunity for us to reflect more appropriately on this issue, at a time when we must renew our commitment to fight against this scourge.

The effects of poverty are devastating, fueling prostitution, violence, promiscuity, exclusion, self-stigma, exploitation, etc.

We must, therefore, stop our fratricidal struggles, stop being selfish, to be rather altruistic and work to build a peaceful, united, fraternal, egalitarian Haiti."

It should be recalled that in 2021, the National Program for the Fight against STIs/HIV/AIDS (PNLS) of the Ministry of Public Health estimated the prevalence of HIV at 1.8% among 15-49 year olds. The incidence would be higher in women, i.e. 2.2% against 1.4% in men. The PNLS, in collaboration with its technical and financial partners, is continuing and intensifying the various strategies of the response, including prevention, in particular with the adoption of pre-exposure prophylaxis to the virus, and the optimization of HIV treatment strategies. However, despite a drop of nearly 30% in new infections over the past 5 years, Haiti is still far from the objectives resulting from global agreements.

In Haiti, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among young people aged 15-19 is 2%. It is the highest in the region. To reverse the trend, UNICEF sensitizes adolescents and young people, girls and boys, on methods of prevention against HIV/AIDS

IH/ iciHaiti