Samantha Salcedo is the Senior Communications Advisor at Supply Chain Management System
Jonise holds her son, John Werley. Photo credit: Jean Jacques Augustin
John Werley sits patiently on his mother Jonise’s lap. His eyes are big, bright and slightly sleepy. We are sitting together in one of the treatment rooms of the Hopital Evangelique, a local health center in the tiny community of Bombardopolis, about an eight hour jeep ride from Port au Prince, Haiti. Bombardopolis is poor, suffering, as most of Haiti does, with high unemployment (over 40% of Haitians are out of work) and without basic modern conveniences of electricity or running water.
The hospital began HIV testing 15 years ago. HIV’s reach is far and indiscriminate, even the remote town of Bombardopolis is not immune; about 25% of the roughly 800 patients the hospital sees monthly are HIV positive. While the hospital could test for the disease, it was a long time before they were able to treat it. In 2006, the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS), a project under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that is administered under USAID began delivering life-saving antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to the hospital.
SCMS is also working with the Hôpital Evangelique’s staff to build their capacity to better manage and forecast key commodities – including pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, laboratory equipment and their associated reagents, thereby assuring that they are procured and delivered on time. So far, the U.S. Government, through SCMS, has donated over $34 million in ARVs, lab supplies and other commodities to Haiti; of this, about $3 million has been devoted to supporting programs in the prevention of mother to child transmission.
In 2005, Jonise and her husband tested positive for AIDS. It wasn’t until 2008, though, that she sought treatment.
“Before I went on medication I felt tired. In my skin I felt a terrible itching and like my blood was burning. I couldn’t walk up the hill, I couldn’t sing, I couldn’t do anything. Now, I feel like my normal self. I’m singing in my church choir again. I have lots of energy.”
Unfortunately, for her husband, the diagnosis came too late for treatment to work. He died shortly after finding out his status.
“These programs (like PEPFAR) are very important, because you could have everything in the world, but without your health, it’s worth nothing. So nothing can stop me from coming to the clinic every month to get my medicine.”
Jonise is one of the lucky ones. She is only a half hour walk from the clinic, while others come from great distances to receive the life-saving drugs that PEPFAR provides through SCMS.
These days, Jonise is focused on taking care of her new husband and her 11-month old baby boy. Before John Werley was born, she made sure to take Nevirapine according to the doctor’s instructions to prevent passing on the disease. She is hopeful that his 12-month checkup will bring good news, that he is HIV free.
