A message from Haiti, 2001

Let us not forget the recent tragedy and "natural" devastation in Haiti that occurred this past year. It is also important to acknowledge that the situation displayed by the media is not simply the product of a massive earthquake-- Haiti is a country of resilient people who have been fighting the oppressive powers at hand for decades. Their tragedy lies not only in a heartbreaking earthquake, but in a history plagued by oppression, exploitation and neglect from the "authorities" that are supposedly charged to care for the people. This next section originates from 2001, 9 years before the earthquake.

Excerpt from Pathologies of Power by Dr. Paul Farmer 2005

A declaration made public in August 2001 by a group of rural Haitians living with HIV

"It is we who are sick; it is therefore we who take the responsibility to declare our suffering, our misery, and our pain, as well as our hope. We hear many poignant statements about our circumstances, but feel compelled to say something clearer and more resounding than what we've heard from others.

[We] are fortunate to have access to medication and health care even though we do not have money to buy them. Many of our health problems have been resolved with [antiretroviral] medications. Given how dire our situation was prior to treatment, we have benefited greatly. But while we feel fortunate to have access to these services, we feel great sadness for other who don't receive the same treatment we do.

And in addition to our health problems, we have other tribulations. Although less preoccupied with our illness, we still have problems paying for housing. We have trouble finding employment. We remain concerned about sending our children to school. Each day we face the distressing reality that we cannot find the means to support them. Not being able to feed our children is the greatest challenge faced by mothers and fathers across the country of Haiti. We have learned that such calamities also occur in other countries. As we reflect on all these tragedies we must ask: is every human being not a person?

Yes, all human being are people. It is we, the afflicted, who speak now. We have come together... to discuss the great difficulties facing the sick. We've also brought some ideas of our own in our knapsacks; we would like to share them with you, the authorities, in the hope that you might do something to help resolve the health problems of the poor.

When we the sick, living with AIDS, speak to the subject of "health and human rights," we are aware of two rights that ought to be indivisible and inalienable. Those who are sick should have the right to health care. We who are already infected believe in prevention too. But the prevention will not save those who are already ill. All people need treatment when we are sick, but for the poor there are no clinics, no doctors, no nurses, no health care.

Furthermore, the medications now available are too expensive. For HIV treatment, for example, we read in the newspapers that treatment costs less than $600 per year [in developing countries]. Although that is what is quoted in press releases, here in a poor, small country like Haiti, it costs more than twice that much.

The right to health is the right to life. Everyone has a right to live. If we were not living in misery, but rather in decent poverty, many of us would not be in the predicament today...

We have a message for the people who are here and for all those able to hear our plea. We are asking for your solidarity. The battle we're fighting-- to find adequate care for those with AIDS, tuberculosis, and other illnesses-- is the same as the combat that's long been waged by other oppressed people so that everyone can live as human beings."
(Pathologies of Power, Paul Farmer, 2005, p 218-219)

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