In October a report was released alleging that AIDS had been spread via Haiti in the late 1960s and not from a gay Canadian flight attendant in the early 1980s. According to one researcher Haiti served as a “stepping stone” for the spread of AIDS into the U.S. and subsequently “moved explosively around the world.”The Haitian community has not taken the study lightly and the country’s government has even established a task force to look into the report. Haitian-American leaders have expressed their worry over Haitians being “scapegoated” over the study’s findings. Rapper Wyclef Jean even gave his two cents over the report which he was none too pleased about:
"World AIDS Day (December 1) is an opportunity to evoke the progress and challenges that Haiti must confront in order to fight this epidemic, but also the recent news that unjustly targeted our country and showed serious prejudice," he said in a statement released by his foundation, Yele Haiti.
So far the press has not reported a response by Worobey or by other authors of the report.
Sources- The Latin Americanist, The Telegraph, AFP, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Image- New Zealand Herald
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