As foreign aid dries up and HIV meds run out, Haitians demand dignity—and a new path forward rooted in self-reliance and diaspora solidarity.

By The Haitian Pulse Editorial Team
Published: June 4, 2025

PORT-AU-PRINCE — In a moment that shattered stigma and silence, dozens of Haitians living with HIV flooded the streets outside the Prime Minister’s office last week, demanding accountability from a health system on the brink of collapse. “Call the minister of health! We are dying!” they chanted—some revealing their HIV status publicly for the first time in a country where silence is often the price of survival.

The protest was both courageous and heartbreaking. But more than anything, it was a warning flare.

Over the past year, Haiti’s already fragile health care system has been decimated by foreign abandonment. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) slashed more than 90% of its local HIV-related contracts, triggering the collapse of clinics and treatment centers across the nation. International NGOs are leaving in droves. Shelves once stocked with antiretrovirals are now empty.

“It’s like suicide,” said Dr. Eugene Maklin, director of New Hope Hospital near Cap-Haitien.
“It’s hard to explain to patients that they’re not going to find medication anymore. We are losing them.”

Marie Denis-Luque, founder of CHOAIDS, a nonprofit in the north that cares for orphans living with HIV, echoed the panic. “We only have medication until July,” she said, her voice breaking. “These are children. And we have no support left.”

The Real Cost of Dependency

For decades, Haiti’s health system has leaned heavily on foreign aid to plug the holes of a chronically underfunded public sector. But NGOs—while often well-meaning—have built parallel systems, not sustainable ones. These outside actors functioned with foreign oversight, foreign metrics, and foreign exit plans. They were never meant to stay. And now, they’re leaving.

And we’re left with nothing.

Clinics that served thousands have closed. Prevention programs have vanished. Organizations that once distributed hundreds of thousands of condoms and conducted widespread education campaigns have been ordered to halt activities—particularly those serving gay men, under new restrictions..

“They were never meant to stay. And now they’re leaving,” says Dr. Alain Casseus of Zamni Lasante.

 Even if funding returns, health workers warn that the damage may already be done. “Stopping treatment can cause the virus to become resistant,” said Dr. Alain Casseus of Zamni Lasante. “It wouldn’t take long, especially with Haiti’s instability, for us to enter a very bad phase.”

Worse, many people now cannot even reach care. Gang violence, especially around Port-au-Prince and major roadways, is making travel life-threatening. And in its shadow, the risk of sexual violence grows—raising even more alarms around the spread of HIV.

Diaspora: Your Voice Is No Longer Optional

To every member of the Haitian diaspora: This is your call to action.

This is not simply a public health crisis. It is a generational reckoning. The model of outside dependence is collapsing in real time—and what rises in its place will depend entirely on us.

Haitian-led organizations like CHOAIDS, New Hope Hospital, Zamni Lasante, and Promoters of Zero AIDS Goal have been doing the work on the ground, under unimaginable pressure. They are exhausted—but still fighting. Now, they need reinforcement from you.

We must move beyond band-aid solutions and build an actual system: local supply chains, locally-run clinics, and Haitian-trained medical professionals at every level.

That means:

• Funding Haitian-led health organizations directly

• Ending our dependence on NGOs that parachute in and out

• Organizing diaspora doctors, nurses, and public health experts to return or remotely support care delivery

• Advocating for national and international policies that prioritize Haitian sovereignty over foreign charity

This crisis is not an accident—it’s the result of a design. A design that puts Haiti last in every calculation.

It’s time we changed the blueprint.

A Message to Our Readers

At The Haitian Pulse, we are not here to coddle donors, serve governments, or recycle sanitized headlines. We are here to inform, to awaken, and to challenge.

We believe that an informed Haitian is a powerful Haitian.

This story is not just about medication. It is about dignity. It is about sovereignty. It is about survival.

And it’s about a choice: Will we continue to rely on systems that were never meant to save us, or will we finally build our own?

We Want to Hear From You

What are your thoughts on the collapse of HIV care in Haiti?
Have you or someone you love been affected by this shortage?
What role should the diaspora play in rebuilding Haiti’s health infrastructure?

Join the conversation. Drop your thoughts in the comments below or tag us with #HaitianPulse on social media.

Together, we are not just witnessing history. We are rewriting it.