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The following article is from the Boston Haitian Reporter.

The Haitian Health Institute will host its seventh annual Haitian Health Career Seminar on Saturday, April 12, 2008.

The initiative, launched by Boston Medical Center, reaches out to young people- especially amongst the Haitian community-to engage them in conversations about health issues affecting Haitians in Massachusetts, the United States, and in Haiti.

A number of Boston schools, such as Brighton High, Madison Park, West Roxbury High and Boston Latin, have joined the initiative to develop leadership and social engagement among youth interested in health careers.

"This is a place for them to learn and exchange ideas," said coordinator Briane Accius of the day-long summit. "A chance for them to be inspired by practicing health professionals and network with college and graduate students. It [is] about contributing to the rebuilding of their societies."

During previous forums, residents have tackled issues of youth violence, cultural issues in health care for Haitians, and nutritional problems from hunger to obesity.

Accius says the seminar is in response to a controversial AIDS research article by Dr. Michael Worobey entitled, "The emergence of HIV/AIDS in the Americas and beyond."

The study, released last October [2007], linked Haitians to the origins of the virus.

"One of the aspects of this meeting is to address how stigmatizations can affect a community," said Accius. "It comes from a lack of education. Therefore, we will focus on the educational aspect and how you utilize that knowledge for yourself and to educate the community."

"The door is open to everyone, but Haitian students more often have difficulty finding mentors to guide them in their education," Accius continued. "Haitian families new to America often lack the resources and support networks to help their children move forward. So we bring them together with Haitian professionals in various fields such as dentistry, nursing, engineering and health science research. It's a platform for families to further connect with neighbors and to pair up teens with the grad students in mentoring relationships -not just for a day, but for longterm guidance."

The summit will proceed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m at Boston University School of Medicine, 80 East Concord Street, Boston. Breakfast and lunch will be served.

For more information, contact Briane Accius at (617) 414-7702 or HHI@bmc.org [2].

To view the full article of Dr. Michael Worobey's "The emergence of HIV/AIDS in the Americas and beyond," go to www.pnas.org/content/vol104/issue47 [3].

Source: BostonHaitian.com [4]

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