Dr. Harold Prévil Attends XIX International AIDS Conference

By Joseph Giere, M.D.

Dr Prévil meets fellow Haitian physicians, Dr. Guesly Delva and his Infectious Disease Fellow. Dr. Delva is Assistant Professor at University of Maryland specializing in Infectious Diseases. He directs the University’s clinical training program for physicians and nurses that focuses on TB and AIDS.

Washington, D.C. hosted the 19th International AIDS Conference July 22nd to July 27th at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Twenty seven thousand attendees from 183 countries were present. Among the delegates, who included Scandinavian princesses, NIH researchers, sex workers, South African government ministers, policy makers, former first lady Laura Bush, Whoopi Goldberg, and “The VIPS” (AIDS infected individuals) was Hôpital Sacré Coeur’s new CEO Dr. Harold Prévil.

Delegates met to hear the latest June 2012 AIDS research, to network, to plan, to discuss government and private initiatives and, most importantly, to teach and to learn from each other. Groups as diverse as ACT UP, HIPS (Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive) met in several hundred sessions, workshops and plenary meetings on topics such as National HIV Strategies, High Level Political Leadership, Youth and HIV Intervention Strategies in the 21st century, ARV Therapy Clinical Trials and Sustainable Development and HIV-A Caribbean Agenda.

Faculty Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Sciences meet with Dr. Prévil and viewed a presentation by CRUDEM Board Member, Deborah O’Hara-Rusckowski, R.N. who also serves as the coordinator for the first Haitian Nursing School in Haiti with North American accreditation. The proposed school would be located at HSC in Milot. Georgetown attendees were from departments of Human Science, Nursing, Health Care Administration, International Health, and the Georgetown University Communications Department, as well as Dean Martin Iuguchi and Carolyn Halley from the President’s Office for Initiatives.

The conference theme, “Turning the Tide Together”, emphasized that the HIV epidemic has reached a defining moment. Through decisive action, application of recent treatment advances and biomedical prevention measures, and the continuing evidence of the ability to scale-up key interventions in the most-needed settings, the potential to end the HIV pandemic remains a guiding hope. This premier gathering offered an abundance of opportunities for collective assessment and evaluation, strategic analysis, and coalition building.

Dr. Prévil was able to use his time optimally in meetings at the Convention Center and an evening reception with long time CRUDEM supporters. One day was also set aside to visit Georgetown University where several initiatives were discussed with the Deans of Medicine, Nursing and the Health Sciences for their cooperation with CRUDEM.

Dr. Ray Mitchell and Dr. Prévil discuss capacity building in HSC.

• In the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been the country most affected by the AIDS epidemic.

• Haiti has 127,000 people infected with AIDS. About 11,500 are children.

• Everyday 20 Haitians are infected with HIV. Seven of ten new infections are young women (15-24).

• Hôpital Sacré Coeur has an AIDS clinic and an ongoing treatment program as part of US PEPFAR program (Presidents Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief).

• In addition, every clinic and hospital patient at HSC is offered an HIV test with results provided within several minutes.

The included patient “opt out” provision ensures the program follows the “Best Practices” preached and endorsed by experts to identify the earliest infections and provide proven AIDS treatments resources at the earliest possible stage for optimum care.

Left: Nancy Labbe-Coq, MD, MSC, Tech Program Director at University of Washington and Nerva Duval RN, who works in Haitian Ministry of Health and Population with responsibility for AIDS Programs in Haiti

Joseph Giere, M.D. is a Maryland based OB-Gyn and CRUDEM Board member.