Haiti health officials meet to discuss shortage of HIV/AIDS medication

Health officials and representatives from various organisations met in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on Monday to discuss the shortage of life-saving HIV/AIDS medication.

Louis Gérald Gilles, member of the country’s Transitional Presidential Council of Haiti, assured people that the scarcity would be resolved.

“We want the population to know that we will get medicine,” he said, “We are exploring many avenues for solutions.”

Gilles said the finance ministry would study the use of state funds to restock hospitals and pharmacies.

Haiti says it has enough HIV medication to last until the end of the year. But some hospitals and clinics caring for HIV/AIDS patients worry that medication will run out as early as July.

The shortage is a result of aid cuts implemented by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

At least five clinics, including one that served 2,500 patients, have been forced to close since the cuts.

Monday’s meeting came following protests last week by dozens of Haitians living with HIV, who defied stigmas about the virus to publicly denounce the USAID cuts.

More than 150,000 people in Haiti have HIV or AIDS, although non-profits believe the number to be much higher.

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