#144: AIDS : Urfie defends research

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Jean-Yves Urfié <jurfie@acn2.net>

As a former journalist in "Libète", I was shocked by the news concerning
the research conducted by Dr. Pape and financed by Cornell University.
However, my first reaction was followed by a professional question : is
it true ? I found out it is not, and it is a shame to see such a great
newspaper as the NYT to calomniate an institution which is doing a great
job. We have so few of them in Haiti, that when you find a team of
dedicated scientists who make a wonderful job, we should let the whole
world know about their findings.
Of course, in the past, we had so many guinea pigs who were used
(abused) by unethical labs that we are prudent. Recently, we had the
case of the infamous Dr. Boulos (remember the dozens of victims of
Valodon?) and the "Norplan" needles which were inplanted in his hospital
into hundreds of poor Haitian women who could not afford any more
children. They were inplanted free, but when the secondary effects
started, and they wanted the needles removed, they had to pay 100
gourdes to get it off : a fortune in Cité Soleil.
Fortunately, Dr. Pape's work is not the same. On the contrary :
scientists from all over the world are interested in his findings.
I hope the NYT has published his answer.
Fr. Jean-Yves Urfié