PEPFAR Watch | April 1, 2023
Read the PublicationAccording to data from PNLS, 150,000 [between 130,000 and 170,000] Haitians are currently living with HIV, approximately 84% of whom know their status. Only 69% of PLHIV are virally suppressed. In spite of the challenging political situation in Haiti, the PEPFAR program successfully provided treatment to 106,212 people at the end of Q4.
Despite these successes, the PEPFAR program in Haiti continues to face major challenges in achieving the 95-95-95 targets. Viral load coverage dropped from 86% in 2020 to 81% in 2021, particularly among 20-34 year olds. Serious gaps remain in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), with Haiti experiencing the second highest rate of childhood HIV infection (EID-Yield) among all PEPFAR countries and 40% of pregnant women starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) only after conception and during antenatal care. The PEPFAR program continues to face challenges with high rates of treatment discontinuation among young people and with the re-engagement of PLHIV who have withdrawn from care, particularly key populations (KPs).
Haiti’s community-led monitoring (CLM) project, one of the first CLM programs to receive PEPFAR support, entered its third year implementation, providing an important source of monitoring and accountability to the PEPFAR program.