HIV/AIDS

Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Following initial infection, a person may not notice any symptoms or may experience a brief period of influenza-like illness. Typically, this is followed by a prolonged period with no symptoms. As the infection progresses, it interferes more with the immune system, increasing the risk of common infections like tuberculosis, as well as other opportunistic infections, and tumors that rarely affect people who have working immune systems. These late symptoms of infection are referred to as AIDS. This stage is often also associated with weight loss.

HIV is spread primarily by unprotected sex (including anal and oral sex), contaminated blood transfusions, hypodermic needles, and from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding. Some bodily fluids, such as saliva and tears, do not transmit HIV. Methods of prevention include safe sex, needle-exchange programs, treating those who are infected, and male circumcision. Disease in a baby can often be prevented by give both the mother and child antiretroviral medication. There is no cure or vaccine; however, antiretroviral treatment can slow the course of the disease and may lead to a near-normal life expectancy. Treatment is recommended as soon as the diagnosis is made. Without treatment, the average survival time after infection is 11 years.

HIV/AIDS in Haiti

Haiti has a 1.8 percent prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS, among the highest percentage-wise in the Caribbean region (behind the Bahamas, and Belize). However, it has the most overall cases of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean region with an estimated 120,000 HIV/AIDS-positive Haitians.

As of 2013, UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, reports that Haiti's national HIV prevalence are among adults aged between 15 to 49. and is primarily transmitted through heterosexual contact, followed by mother-to-infant transmission. The recent declines in HIV infection rates are most notable in urban areas, and have been attributed to significant behavioral changes, including decreased number of partners, decreased sexual debut, and increased condom use. Other explanations for the recent trends include AIDS-related mortality and improvements made in blood safety early in the epidemic. Continued political instability, high internal migration rates, high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections, and weakened health and social services persist as factors with potential negative impacts on the epidemic.

Haiti

Coordinates: 19°00′N 72°25′W / 19.000°N 72.417°W / 19.000; -72.417

Haiti (ⁱ/ˈheɪti/; French: Haïti [a.iti]; Haitian Creole: Ayiti [ajiti]), officially the Republic of Haiti (French: République d'Haïti; Haitian Creole: Repiblik Ayiti), is a country in the western hemisphere, and is located on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) in size and has an estimated 10.6 million people, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the third-most populous country in the Caribbean as a whole.

Originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people, Europeans first became aware of the island on December 5, 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic. When Columbus first landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found India or Asia. Deciding to establish the first settlement in the area, a contingent of men were left at an outpost christened La Navidad because of the wreck to their sunken flagship, the Santa Maria, that occurred at Christmas, north of what is now Limonade. The island was named Hispaniola and claimed by Spain, which ruled until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements by the French led to the western portion of the island being ceded to France, which named it Saint-Domingue. The development of sugarcane plantations, worked by slaves brought from Africa, led to the colony being among the most lucrative in the world.

Haiti I Am Sorry

"Haiti I am Sorry", or simply "Haiti", is a calypso song written and composed by David Rudder, and first recorded in 1988 for the album Haiti by David Rudder and Charlie's Roots. The song is about the serious trouble in Haiti.

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Hispaniola

Hispaniola (Spanish: La Española; Latin: Hispaniola; Taíno: Haiti) is the 22nd-largest island in the world, located in the Caribbean island group, the Greater Antilles. It is the second largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba, and the tenth most populous island in the world.

Two sovereign nations share the 76,192 square kilometres (29,418 sq mi) island. The Dominican Republic with 48,445 square kilometres (18,705 sq mi) is nearly twice as large as its neighbor, Haiti, which contains 27,750 square kilometres (10,710 sq mi). The only other shared island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin, shared between France (Saint-Martin) and the Netherlands (Sint Maarten).

It is the site of the first European settlement in the Americas founded by Christopher Columbus on his voyages in 1492 and 1493.

History

Etymology

The island was called by various names by its native people, the Taíno Amerindians. When Columbus took possession of the island in 1492, he named it Insula Hispana, meaning "the Spanish Island" in Latin and La Isla Española, meaning "the Spanish Island", in Spanish.Bartolomé de las Casas shortened the name to "Española", and when Pietro Martyr d‘Anghiera detailed his account of the island in Latin, he rendered its name as Hispaniola.