By Dr. Christina Pardo | Visitor Writer
NEW YORK—Haitians are once more dealing with discriminatory and derogatory remarks, most not too long ago by the Republican Nominees for President and Vice President of the USA. The newest is JD Vance elevating with out proof a rumor that Haitian immigrants are bringing infectious diseases, particularly HIV and TB. It isn’t the primary, and sadly probably not the final time, that well being circumstances are used to demonize and disenfranchise Haitian immigrants.
Opposite to the false tales rising, the prevalence of HIV in Haiti has decreased to an estimated 1.7% in comparison with a price of 11.3/100,000 in the United States, in response to HIV.org, a program of the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund. About 1.2 million individuals within the U.S. have HIV, in comparison with 140,000 in Haiti. This distinction helps the fact that what we see earlier than us now could be the results of centuries of racism, exploitation and neo-colonialism.
That’s the reason us healthcare professionals should guarantee essentially the most fundamental of rights to this neighborhood are protected. To date, I’ve been inspired and motivated by healthcare professionals from throughout the nation which have reached out for assist offering culturally delicate care to the newly arriving Haitians of their communities. Authorities companies that NOW notice the hole in information and sources for Haitian immigrants have additionally reached out. They too are mobilizing to offer coaching and sources to communities throughout the nation.
Constructing on my work as a doctor devoted to Haitian, immigrant and numerous populations, I’m proud to have organized a bunch of devoted Haitian and Haitian American healthcare professionals right into a collective. Collectively, we are going to produce and disseminate culturally responsive info for Haitians within the coming weeks that we’ll share through www.communityfirstequity.com.
Within the meantime, I’m sharing just a few publicly out there info to assist fight the faux information earlier than it spreads once more:
Christina Pardo, MD MPH, is an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medication and founding father of Group First Fairness. Tanesha Mondestin, MSPH, contributed to this letter.