HAITI / HIV

UNICEF and partners in Haiti are providing free antenatal care and other health services for pregnant women living with HIV. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:59
• Production Date: 25 June 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: HEALTH; HEALTH SERVICES; DISEASE PREVENTION; DISEASE CONTROL
• Geographic Subject: HAITI
• MAMS Id: U110625a

Description

STORY: HAITI / HIV
TRT: 2:59
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / CREOLE / NATS

DATELINE: 01 JUNE 2011, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

Shotlist

1. Close up, pregnant girl standing between tents in camp
2. Med shot, sewer drain between two rows of tents
3. Close up, pregnant girl walks in front of tent
4. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Clodine Gerard (not her real name), age 16:
"I broke up with my boyfriend because he carried a gun and lived a life of crime, even killing people. My mother didn't want me to stay with him."
5. Med shot, girl being counseled by woman sitting at desk
6. Close up, profile of girl being counseled
7. Med shot, front of medical clinic building
8. SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Clodine Gerard (not her real name), age 16:
"This clinic is helping me by giving me free medicine for my HIV, by making sure that I am healthy, and by giving me food."
9. Med shot, baby on mother's lap, looking into camera
10. Close up, baby on mother's lap
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Youssouf Sawadogo, HIV/AIDS specialist, UNICEF:
"HIV/AIDS is one of the focus areas for UNICEF and we are working with our partners to alleviate the suffering of this population, to try to improve access to care, treatment and support to women and children, particularly in the area of prevention of mother to child transmission."
12. Med shot, two rows of women seated at clinic
13. Close up, woman's profile, with UNICEF logo on the far wall
14. Close up, nurse examines a woman on table
15. Close up, torso of woman sitting in front of window
16. Close up, feet in sandals in mud puddle
17. Close up, bottom half of face and neck of woman
18. Close up, stomach of pregnant woman standing in camp
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Youssouf Sawadogo, HIV/AIDS specialist, UNICEF:
"In the camp setting, you have a lot of risk and vulnerability situations. And these women and children are left on their own. If we don't do anything, these women and children will not have equitable access to care and treatment. And that's why we are trying, with our partners, to improve and bring services to these camps and try to make this aftermath of the earthquake more bearable."
20. Med shot, woman's legs and feet walking in street
21. Wide shot, woman (with box on her head) walks into frame and walks down busy street.

Storyline

Life has become complicated for 16-year-old Clodine (not her real name).

Six months pregnant and HIV-positive, she lives in a dirt-floor tent with her aunt in a camp for displaced people. A few months ago, she left her boyfriend, who gave her HIV and is the father of her child.

SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Clodine Gerard (not her real name), age 16:

"I broke up with my boyfriend because he carried a gun and lived a life of crime, even killing people. My mother didn't want me to stay with him."

Clodine says she'll share her story, but on the condition that her identity be concealed. Like many Haitians who are HIV positive, she fears being stigmatized because of her status. Her father died during the devastating January 2010 earthquake. It also destroyed her home and since then she hasn't attended school.

A UNICEF-supported clinic diagnosed her HIV status early. It's called Community Clinic of Martissant, and it's one of 13 institutions that are part of a network supported by The Foundation for Haitian Family Development.

Founded in 2000, it offers a range of health services focused primarily on maternal and child health.

SOUNDBITE (Haitian Creole) Clodine Gerard (not her real name), age 16:

"This clinic is helping me by giving me free medicine for my HIV, by making sure that I am healthy, and by giving me food."

The agency believes it is crucial to maintain HIV services, including preventing the transmission of the virus from mother to child.

SOUNDBITE (English) Youssouf Sawadogo, HIV/AIDS specialist, UNICEF:
"HIV/AIDS is one of the focus areas for UNICEF and we are working with our partners to alleviate the suffering of this population, to try to improve access to care, treatment and support to women and children, particularly in the area of prevention of mother to child transmission."

Out in the community, she faces the stigma of being HIV positive, so she's keeping her status a secret.
Living in a camp further complicates matters, as it increases risks and the vulnerability of affected women and children.

SOUNDBITE (English) Youssouf Sawadogo, HIV/AIDS specialist, UNICEF:
"In the camp setting, you have a lot of risk and vulnerability situations. And these women and children are left on their own. If we don't do anything, these women and children will not have equitable access to care and treatment. And that's why we are trying, with our partners, to improve and bring services to these camps and try to make this aftermath of the earthquake more bearable."

The years ahead could prove challenging for women like Clodine. Protecting their health and the health of their babies is one challenge that must be met head-on.