The course of the AIDS pandemic continues to be determined by peopleís ability to realize their right to treatment and preventive services. Of all Latin American and Caribbean countries, Haiti continues to have the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS, while treatment for the disease remains largely unavailable. Loune Viaud is a leader in providing treatment for Haitiís HIV/AIDS population, and she has been at the forefront of providing therapy for many others health problems predominantly afflicting the poor.

Loune Viaud runs Zanmi Lasante, a sociomedical complex based in the town of Cange, a squatterís settlement in Central Haiti. There are few passable roads and no reliable electricity. Zanmi Lasanteís operations include central Haitiís largest hospital, several outpatient clinics, and a central office for outreach workers in over 100 outlying villages. Under Viaudís leadership, these community outreach workers delivery therapy, supervise health programs, work to improve literacy particularly among women, improve hazardous dwellings, and ensure that a safe supply of drinking water is available. The hospital is also affiliated with several schools, which in addition to providing over 2000 students with invaluable skills (literacy among Haitians hovers just under 50%) gives workers a dignified way to distribute food to needy children.

Zanmi Lasanteís hospital wards are overflowing, while both public and private hospitals in the Central Plateau stand all but empty because they charge fees most Haitians are unable to afford. The wise application of relatively small amounts of money has allowed Zanmi Lasante, working with the Haitian authorities, to vastly improve public health in its vicinity. A facility built in 1999 for the treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis has been so successful that the Haitian Ministry of Health has designated it the primary referral site for the entire country. Zanmi Lasante is the one of the few places on earth where HIV/AIDS is being treated among desperately poor people; most other treatment facilities are located in urban centers and capital cities.Viaud has made great strides toward the acceptance of health as a human right in Haiti since according to Dr. Paul Farmer, elsewhere ìsome have even arguedÖthat it is ëirresponsibleí to provide antiretrovirals to the poor.î

Zanmi Lasante has proven them wrong. Since the cash strapped Haitian government, which is facing an embargo on development assistance, is limited in its ability to contribute meaningfully to the countryís public health infrastructure, Zanmi Lasante has recently had to take out a loan, the interest payments for which come directly out of Viaudís and the doctorsí paychecks. According to one source, Viaudís ìenergy, determination, and uncompromising commitment to improve health outcomes and foster social justice in her homeland and beyond are inspirational,î and her reputation for integrity is very strong throughout the Central Plateau as well as in Port-au-Prince. Viaudís work extends beyond Zanmi Lasante. She sits on the Advisory Board of Family TIES (Together in Enhancing Support) of Massachusetts, a statewide information and parent-to-parent support project for families of children with special needs and chronic illness. She recently addressed the topic of ìWomenís Rights in Armed Conflict and Peacebuildingî at the International Forum of the Association of Women in Development in 1999.Viaud also received a Peace and Justice Award from the Cambridge Peace Commission in 2000 and has been honored by many poor communities in Haiti over the years. Her expertise in helping draft Haitiís and Zanmi Lasanteís proposal to the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) resulted in the awarding of a $67 million grant to Haiti, which will be shared with Zanmi Lasante. Thus Viaud will be directing one of the worldís largest AIDS treatment programs, as Zanmi Lasante plans to expand its operations throughout Haitiís Central Plateau.