The exotic and the mundane

Abstract

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Haiti has often been referred to as a “mystery,” and “striking similarities” between patterns of disease in Haiti and in sub-Saharan Africa are often underlined. The occurrence of AIDS in Haitians has also led to the postulation of a number of theories positing a Haitian origin for AIDS and linking the syndrome in Haitians to voodoo. A review of the epidemiological data gathered and published in the early years of the pandemic suggests that these “exotic” theories are not necessary to explain the Haitian epidemic, which is clearly linked not to Africa but to the United States. Patterns of risk identified among many of the first Haitians with AIDS are similar to risk factors identified in North America and Europe (same-sex contact with an HIV-infected individual and blood transfusion). The Haitian epidemicsubsequently came to resemble patterns seen in sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS is predominantly a heterosexually transmitted disease. Similarly shifting patterns are described for several other Caribbean nations, underlining the importance of a historical analysis of the Caribbean pandemic as well as the necessity to link analysis of local epidemiology of AIDS/HIV to larger considerations of political economy.