New Study Dispels Notion Of Higher Prevalence Of AIDS Among Haitian Immigrants
July 15, 2010
CaribWorldNews, Cambridge, MA, Thurs. July 15, 2010: A new study published has found that the AIDS rate among Haitian immigrants in the United States is similar to the rate for African-Americans, challenging previous notions that Haitian immigrants have a higher prevalence of AIDS than all other groups.
The study, titled `HIV among Haitian-born persons in the United States, 1985-2007,` is the first to report on HIV surveillance and AIDS trends for Haitians compared to the U.S. population and African-Americans. It was conceptualized by the National Haitian-American Health Alliance (NHAHA) in collaboration with researchers from Harvard Medical School, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard-affiliated health system.
It was led by Haitian American Dr. Linda Marc-Clerisme, a social epidemiologist who specializes in the psychosocial aspects of HIV/AIDS at the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research at Cambridge Health Alliance. Researchers analyzed CDC surveillance data from 1985-2007, for Haitian-born adults and adolescents living in the United States diagnosed with AIDS. Cases were identified by the designation of `Haiti` as place of birth on the CDC case report form. The population denominators used to compute AIDS rates comparing African-American and Haitian communities were based on data from both the U.S. Census Bureau and Haitian Consulates.
When the research team used Census denominators to calculate the AIDS rate among Haitian immigrants, findings showed that per every 100,000, 78 persons from this community were diagnosed with AIDS, which suggests a seven-fold over-representation in the CDC surveillance database. But when population estimates from the Haitian Consulates were used, the AIDS rate ranged from 35 to 46 diagnoses per every 100,000 Haitian immigrant, which is similar to the four-fold over-representation for African-Americans in the CDC AIDS surveillance database.
`The US Census Bureau acknowledges that foreign-born populations are often `hard-to-count` if they are undocumented,` said Dr. Marc-Clerisme. `This may explain the difference in the population estimates used and the resulting discrepancy in AIDS rates.`
Dr. Marc-Clerisme is the spouse of Jean Renald Clerisme, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chancellor for the Republic of Haiti, who has recently been appointed as a member to the Clinton Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission.
Dr. Marc-Clerisme`s research and knowledge of the Haitian community resulted in a 2007 appointment to the U.S. Census Bureau`s Race & Ethnicity Advisory Committee on African-Americans, where she serves as Vice-Chair. In 2007, the Census estimated there were 530,897 foreign-born Haitians living in the U.S., whereas Haitian Consulates estimated there were between 900,000 to 1.2 million Haitian-born persons living in the U.S. during this same time period.
`The totals compiled by these two sources are quite disparate, and it is important to note that Consulates do not run nationally representative surveys or censuses to estimate, or count, the number of their nationals living in the U.S.,` added Dr. Marc. `Their figures are based on the estimated number of services provided to the Haitian community across the U.S.`
`Our findings also suggest a need to tailor culturally sensitive prevention and promotion campaigns for this population, as results from this study also show that both Haitian-born men and women are more likely to receive a late-stage diagnosis compared to African-Americans overall,` said Eustache Jean-Louis, MD, NHAHA Chair and study co-author.
The National Haitian-American Health Alliance is a membership organization based in New York. Daily operations are run by the NHAHA Co-Chair, Yanick Sanon Eveillard, MPH. NHAHA`s mission is to improve the health and welfare of Haitians by enhancing communication, promoting and facilitating collaborative projects; and fostering cooperative relationships among similar organizations through coordinated resources, information sharing, advocacy, capacity building and education.
The Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research generates innovative mental health services research that impacts policy, practice, and service delivery for multicultural populations. It is led by Margarita Alegria, PhD, a study co-author. The Center is comprised of an interdisciplinary group of epidemiologists, psychologists, social policy analysts, health economists, psychiatrists, data analysts, sociologists, and other professionals who assist in the research and analysis of Center projects.
Cambridge Health Alliance is an innovative, award-winning health system that provides high quality care in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston`s metro-north communities. It includes three hospital campuses, a network of primary care and specialty practices, the Cambridge Public Health Dept., and the Network Health plan. CHA is a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate and is also affiliated with Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine.
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Haitian American Census Advisory Board Member Survives Haiti Quake
February 19, 2010
CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Feb. 19, 2010: A member of the US Census Bureau`s Race and Ethnicity Advisory Committee and vice-chair of the African-American Committee is lucky to be alive, after surviving the deadly earthquake of January 12th in Haiti.
Dr. Linda Marc, who is an epidemiologist at the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard-affiliated public healthcare system located outside of Boston, was in Haiti on January 12th when the quake struck and thankfully survived to tell the tale.
`It`s kind of a strange experience. I have an apartment and home office in the Turgeau area of Port-au-Prince and just left the home office to go back into the main part of the apartment and heard a knocking noise,` reminisced Dr. Marc on Caribbean Corner on WWRL 1600 AM Saturday.
`Then I felt my building going back and forth with me. Before I knew it my hands were on a wall. I thought the building was collapsing but never thought there was an earthquake. Then I ran outside and saw other people living in the building gathered in the court yard outside and someone said there was an earthquake of 7.0. in Haiti.`
Marc, who was in Haiti since December doing research on HIV/AIDS and mental health, said she then looked below, down the mountain from where her building was, and all she saw over the capital was dust.
`Then I saw explosions – gas stations exploding,` she added in the exclusive interview with hosts of the show – CWNN`s Felicia Persaud and WWRL`S Rennie Bishop on Feb. 13th. `The ironic thing is my building did not fall. It was well designed by a Haitian who lives in US and the fact that we were on a mountain side, I think the mountain absorbed the shock and that`s why 25-30 of us were alive.`
For the next 10 nights, Marc said her husband and her were forced to sleep out in their building`s courtyard and endure 50 degree weather, since they were not allowed back in to buildings out of fear of aftershocks.
Three days after the quake, her husband and her managed to make it down the mountain and start looking for friends and colleagues.
`It took me three days to get down to the city below. What I saw then was most of houses were flattened. We saw everyone – rich and poor at with all houses gone and people all sleeping in street. Then I saw bodies all over street – many wrapped up in white sheets and lined up to be picked up,` said Marc. `As I got closer to the airport we saw people digging mass graves because there was just no way else it seemed. People were even digging graves on the side of road.`
Despite criticism over a lack of aid flowing quicker into the country, Marc said she did see lots of water trucks and significant help from the Dominican Republic in the three days after the quake.
`I did see aid. In particular water, free water trucks in almost all neighborhoods I passed through,` she said. ` I also saw plenty of helicopters and many planes on our tarmac. But I did not have TV/cable and Internet was down so I did not see what the world was seeing but I could only see what was in front of me and from my vantage point, aid was coming in to the epicenter and people were organizing to help each other. I also went to state university hospital and saw Israel, Haitian American docs. France etc. helping.`
Marc only returned to the U.S. on January 28th and was evacuated as an American on the military flight. It took her 10 days to get word to her relatives that both she and her husband survived the quake and were not among the over 200,000 dead. She now hopes that Haitians in the country and the Diaspora will be included in the rebuilding plans for their nation.
`I would like to see even open forum or congressional meetings for Haitian leaders in community to be involved because we know the culture,` she told the radio show, adding that so far she has not seen such an outreach and is `concerned about that.
`People making proposal have to be careful and that`s why it`s important to involve Haitians in the planning process as they know the culture and geography of the land. Outsiders cannot make these decisions arbitrarily The decisions cannot be made without the involvement of Haitians who are living in Haiti and are experts on their own country,` added Marc.
Marc`s primary research aims are to identify psychological and behavioral factors that impact HIV treatment outcomes. With the Center for Public Health Preparedness, she is studying health communication behaviors amongst persons of Haitian ancestry in the US, and how they respond to health `messaging` for HIV/AIDS, H1N1, and public health emergencies.
Marc received an MS in Health and Social Behavior, and doctorate of science (ScD) in Social Epidemiology, both from the Harvard School of Public Health. She also holds an MPH in Chronic Disease Epidemiology from Yale School of Public Health; and BA in Psychology from St. John`s University in New York.
Haiti`s January 12th quake claimed over 200,000 lives and according to the IDB, cost close to 14 billion dollars in damages.
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Census Advisory Board Member Urges Caribbean Nationals To Learn From Hispanics
June 26, 2009
CaribWorldNews, ORLANO, FL, Fri. June 26, 2009: Dr. Linda Marc, vice-chair of the Race & Ethnicity Advisory Committee of the U.S. Census Bureau, is suggesting that the Caribbean community should learn from the Hispanic community.
She pointed out that in 1976, a Public Law, (94-311), was approved by the 94th Congress as a joint resolution, which states that social and economic statistics should be collected for Americans of Spanish descent or origin, to ensure that there is a regular nationwide evaluation of their economic and social status. Caribbean nationals, she said, can follow this lead.
Dr. Marc made the suggestion at a Census 2010 Caribbean Partnership Summit, held from June 23-24 at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel in Orlando, Florida, which was sponsored by the Census Bureau Atlanta Region Partnership Team.
The Haitian-American doctor handed out a copy of the document to all meeting attendees and showed where the Public Law 94-311 explicitly states that, `Whereas a large number of Americans of Spanish origin or descent suffer from racial, social, economic and political discrimination, and are denied the basic opportunities they deserve as American citizens and which would enable them to begin to lift themselves out of this poverty they now endure; and Whereas improved evaluation of their social and economic status will assist State and Federal Governments and private organizations in the accurate determination of the urgent and special needs of Americans of Spanish origin or descent.`
Dr. Marc also provided attendees with a copy of the `Caribbean Count Bill` developed by Congresswoman Yvette Clark, and lobbied for by CaribID, a campaign to simply and forcefully urge the U.S. Census to allow Caribbean nationals/West Indians to be counted (www.caribID2010.com). The bill has been introduced to the Senate as S. 1083 by Senators Chuck Schummer and Kristin Gillibrand.
When asked why it was important to provide attendees all this documentation, Dr. Marc replied, `I want my community to be informed. Very often foreign-born persons are unaware of the documents that are public information. I want to make sure that all the community leaders who were invited to participate at this Summit can discuss the issues with precision when they get back to their respective communities.`
Dr. Marc is a social epidemiologist and received her doctoral degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, and she uses the population statistics published by the Census to estimate the rate of disease in minority populations. Her areas of specialty include HIV/AIDS and mental health, and she is presently a researcher with the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts.
The goal of the event was to reach out to key segments of the hard-to-reach Caribbean populations living in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Attendees represented the diverse Caribbean communities, including but not limited to Indo-Caribbean, Dutch Caribbean, English Caribbean, French Caribbean, and Spanish Caribbean nations.
Essentially, representatives from the Caribbean community expressed frustration that the Census 2010 Form could not capture their country of origin (e.g. Antigua, Barbados, Haiti), in the same manner that it does for persons of Hispanic origin.
Meeting attendees raised this as the paramount issue because it has powerful financial ramifications for persons indentifying accurately as Black. Meeting attendees also asked for guidance from representatives from the Census Bureau. But George Grandy, the Director of the Atlanta Regional Office, presided over the meeting and indicated that `the Census Bureau can not advise persons on how to respond to the ethnicity and race categories. Our job at the Census is to ensure that everyone fills out the form on April 1, 2010 and self-identifies their origin and/or race.`
Other concerns raised by meeting attendees from the diverse Caribbean community focused on adequate coverage in the Caribbean media, assurance regarding confidentiality and privacy issues, recruitment of Caribbean staff for Census 2010 positions, and the availability of adequate resources for community based organizations to reduce the differential count and improve coverage of the hard-to-reach members of the Caribbean community.
In particular, Kervin Clenance, an expert media consultant and descendent from the U.S. Virgin Islands, demanded more transparency in the media buys and advertising campaign. Dr. Marc has taken his concerns back to the African-American Committee for review.
Also, members of the Haitian community voiced concern they would not receive enough Census Guides in the Haitian-Creole language in communities where Haitian immigrants lived. The most prominent and outspoken leaders from several Haitian organizations and businesses were from Florida and Georgia.
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