21495: (Craig) Voodoo Priests Could Help Fight HIV/AIDS in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>

Global Challenges | Voodoo Priests Could Help Fight HIV/AIDS in Haiti,
NPR's 'Morning Edition' Reports
[Apr 22, 2004]

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=23325

     Voodoo priests in Haiti "could make all the difference" in the
country's fight against HIV/AIDS by directing clients to clinics for
testing and treatment, NPR's "Morning Edition
<http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/>" reports. Many of Haiti's
approximately 400,000 HIV-positive residents believe that the symptoms
of their illness are the result of a curse and that voodoo can solve
medical problems, according to NPR. Patricia Lawrence, who directs AIDS
outreach programs with La Fondation Esther Boucicault in St. Marc,
Haiti, said that providing voodoo priests with HIV/AIDS education
information could "significantly lower" the country's HIV/AIDS
prevalence rate. Lawrence said that some of the priests, who are
polygamous, may request sex as payment for treatments and could infect
themselves and others in their communities if they do not have
information about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The
segment also includes comments from a voodoo priest who does not believe
in an "AIDS curse" and sends clients who might be HIV-positive to a
health clinic for testing (Shaw, "Morning Edition," NPR, 4/22).

The complete segment is available online
<http://www.npr.org/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=ME&showDate=22-Apr-2004&segNum=8&mediaPref=RM>
in RealPlayer.

A kaisernetwork.org <http://www.kaisernetwork.org/> video feature on
HIV/AIDS in Haiti prepared by Fred de Sam Lazaro, a correspondent for
the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/>," is
available online <http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/kff/haiti03>,
along with additional information
<http://www.kaisernetwork.org/static/spotlight_hivaids_haiti.cfm> about
HIV/AIDS in Haiti.