A fresh approach to AIDS prevention and treatment has won a prestigious United Nations award for a Christian Aid partner working in Haiti, which has the highest prevalence of HIV in the Americas.
The work of POZ (Objective Zero Aids) on Haiti’s western coast has been selected for the UNAIDS Red Ribbon Award 2008 to be presented at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City in August.
More than one in ten people are HIV positive in the area where POZ works. By running ground-breaking projects reaching out to voodoo priests, doctors and midwives, POZ has been working to break down the stigma attached the virus.
Aurore Julien Brazier is a community nurse who works at POZ's main health clinic in Montrouis.
Most people living in rural Haiti are more inclined to visit a traditional voodoo healer when they are ill than to visit a medical doctor or nurse. So in the coastal town of Montrouis, POZ has trained 30 traditional voodoo healers to spot the symptoms of HIV and pass on prevention advice. POZ also provides referral cards to their conventional HIV testing centre and clinic. Last year the 30 healers referred 360 patients to the clinic with these cards.
This approach has proved more effective in fighting HIV than relying on conventional health services alone. Traditional voodoo healers are regarded as community leaders and people are more likely to follow their advice.
Working with the community
Christian Aid’s programme officer, Abdonnel Doudou, who works with POZ, said: ‘Their experience in Montrouis teaches us that HIV/AIDS prevention work has more success when the whole community is involved in planning and implementing their strategy.
POZ has built a strong expertise in combating HIV/AIDS that is recognised throughout Haiti, and Christian Aid-Haiti is very proud of its contribution to this innovative approach for which POZ has been granted an award by UNAIDS.’