BATEY EL DEAN, Dominican Republic, December 1, 2008. – Like for millions around the world, hundreds of impoverished residents living in vulnerable sugarcane batey communities in the Dominican Republic (DR) remember on December 1st their loved ones and others who have succumbed to the deadly HIV virus and AIDS.

The DR has a national HIV prevalence of 0.8% (2007). It is estimated that more 33,000 Dominican children today are left orphaned – a number that could be even higher. However, the prevalence rises dramatically inside the bateys to 3-5% of the sexually active adults. In the Caribbean, the prevalence of HIV among women has been steadily rising, with women currently making up 43% of the adult population living with HIV – compared to 24% in 1990. Haiti and the DR, together, comprise three-quarters of all cases of HIV in the Caribbean. “The need to address HIV infection inside the bateyes is crucial, particularly, because those who are infected are generally in their prime productive years,” said Ulrick Gaillard, BRA’s CEO.

Since 2005, the Batey Relief Alliance Dominicana (BRA) developed, in partnerships with USAID, Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, and the Dominican’s Presidential Commission on AIDS (COPRESIDA), Directive for the Control of Sexually-Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDS (DIGECITTS) and Ministry of Health (SESPAS) a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment program delivering free services in laboratory testing, antiretroviral therapy, medical care, nutrition, counseling and education, and economic development to more than 3,000 adults and children living in the region of Monte Plata. Gaillard added that preventing the spread of the infection is important, but also treating individuals who are HIV-positive is crucial, such that they can remain productive members of their communities, and continue to provide for themselves and their families.