The epidemiology of AIDS in Haiti refutes the claims of Gilbert et al
- Jean William Pape*,†,
- Paul Farmer‡,§,¶,
- Serena Koenig‡,§,¶,‖,
- Daniel Fitzgerald*,
- Peter Wright**, and
- Warren Johnson*
- *Centres GHESKIO, Port-au-Prince, Haiti;
- †Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021;
- ‡Partners In Health, Boston, MA 02115;
- §Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115;
- ¶Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; and
- **Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235
In 1982, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) incorrectly inferred that Haitians were at increased risk for acquiring HIV (1), a generalization that resulted in unprecedented national stigmatization. The association was later dropped, but Haiti's economy never recovered. Gilbert et al. (2) again link HIV's origins and Haiti, stating that “subtype B …
‖E-mail: skoenig{at}partners.org
