26743: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti says cuts HIV cases by half in 10 years (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Haiti has cut the prevalence
of HIV infection by half in the past decade, largely through education
programs, a leading health official in the western hemisphere's poorest
nation said on Thursday.
     Haiti General Hospital Director Dr. Albert Camille Archange said 3.1
percent of the population carried the human immunodeficiency virus,
compared with 6 percent in 1995.
     That still leaves it with the highest infection rate in the western
hemisphere.
     "We've made considerable progress as shown by the figures. We only
have to continue to work hard to bring the HIV prevalence rate even lower,"
said Archange, who manages the largest public health center in the troubled
Caribbean nation of 8 million people.
     Haiti is one of 15 countries targeted for $15 billion in AIDS relief
assistance over five years under a U.S. emergency plan.
     The United States donated about $40 million this year to help Haiti
implement programs aimed at educating Haitians, particularly the youth
population, about the disease and providing medical care for people
infected by the virus that causes AIDS.
     The U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince said the United States would devote
$48 million in 2006 to support programs set up by the Haitian government
and by local and international nongovernmental organizations to combat
HIV/AIDS.
     Haiti's public health minister, Dr. Josette Bijou, said several
studies showed that more Haitians, particularly the young, were using
condoms and had adopted more responsible sexual behavior.