December 1st: World AIDS Day

Every year across the world on December 1st we celebrate World AIDS Day as a way to remember those who lost their lives because of complications of HIV/AIDS, to also remember the task that HIV/AIDS put in our hands. A lot has been done but a lot more is yet to be done to contain this scourge. Millions of people continue dying of HIV/AIDS every year. Millions of people are current on antiretroviral therapy, but millions more are eligible to get the medications but they still do not have access to them.

I believe that in our world, in our lifetime there are enough resources for every human being to live a decent life and to have access to quality healthcare services. HIV/AIDS has significantly raised the rate of orphans in Africa and many other places in the world. In Haiti, my beloved country, the picture is the same as elsewhere in the sites where HIV/AIDS has considerably increased the number of orphans.

In February 2004, I lost a cousin to HIV/AIDS (stage IV) and cervical cancer. That was extremely devastating as at that time I was working in Boucan Carre, Haiti as a Medical Doctor and despite the knowledge that I have, despite the drugs were available I couldn’t save the life of my cousin. She died slowly while I was watching quietly. I felt useless and completely incapable of saving her.

You can click on the following link to watch the youtube video of the song “Sida pote Jiji ale” that I wrote for my cousin who died of HIV in 2004: