The Zombie Curse : A Doctor's 25-year Journey Into the Heart of the AIDS Epidemic in Haiti

This memoir of a dedicated doctor battling the AIDS epidemic in Haiti does more than chronicle the story of a horrible disease. It is a moving tribute to the abundant courage, resilience, and dignity of a people beset by tragedy.The Zombie Curse A Doctor’s 25-Year Journey into the Heart of the AIDS Epidemic in Haiti Arthur M. Fournier, M.D., with Daniel Herlihy Dr. Art Fournier met his first AIDS patient on an autumn afternoon in 1979. Of course, neither Fournier nor his colleagues at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital fully understood the chilling impact of what they were seeing. They were simply confounded by the fact that the patient failed to respond to treatment and, ultimately, died. During the next several months scores of additional patients presented themselves with similar symptomsâ€'and met the same fate. Beyond the medical similarities, there was another bond that grouped these patients together: they were all Haitian immigrants. The zombie curse had descended on south Florida. As the AIDS epidemic unfolded around the world, Dr. Fournier witnessed the chaos, confusion, and blame that was to become associated with this baffling disease. Nothing in his background, education, or training prepared him for the journey that lay ahead. The death and misery were devastating, the disease frustrating and mysterious, and the spiritual toll as catastrophic as the physical. It soon became apparent that science alone could not win this epic battle. We follow Dr. Fournier to Haiti where he searches for ways to treat patients with AIDSâ€'not simply the physical symptoms, but also the stereotyping and blame heaped on both the victims and even the doctors that tend to them. In large measure it is the generous spirit of a proud people that move and motivate Fournier, ultimately releasing him from his own zombie curse. This memoir of a dedicated doctor battling the AIDS epidemic in Haiti does more than chronicle the story of a horrible disease. It is a moving tribute to the abundant courage, resilience, and dignity of a people beset by tragedy.

"Dr. Art Fournier meets his first AIDS patient on an autumn afternoon in 1979. Of course, neither Fournier nor his colleagues at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital fully understand the ominous nature of what they are seeing. They are simply confounded by the fact that the patient fails to respond to treatment and, ultimately, dies. Over the next several months, scores of additional patients present themselves with similar symptoms - and meet the same fate. Beyond the medical similarities, there is another bond that groups these patients together: they are all Haitian immigrants. The zombie curse has descended on south Florida." "As the AIDS epidemic unfolds around the world, Fournier embarks on his own journey of redemption and healing. A witness to the chaos, confusion, and blame that would become associated with this baffling disease, he is deeply affected by the epidemic's impact on Miami's Haitian community. While he vainly treats physical symptoms and prescribes medications that seem to have little effect, he slowly recognizes the cycle of poverty and disease that is contributing to the disease's true devastation. Ill prepared for the death and misery, both he and the world's health community are confused and frustrated by this mysterious illness. But it is the catastrophic spiritual toll, for which medical science has no remedy, that motivates Fournier to take his first trip to Haiti, where AIDS and a host of other ailments are crippling its population." This memoir of a dedicated doctor battling the Haitian AIDS epidemic does more than chronicle a horrible disease. As we follow Fournier to Haiti where he searches for ways to help his patients - not simply by addressing the physical symptoms, but also by tackling the stereotyping and blame heaped on both the victims and even the doctors that tend to them - it becomes clear that the pathway to salvation lies as much in the collective depths of our hearts and souls as it does in medical science.

Publishers Weekly

Fournier sends out a cry from the front lines about the overwhelming role poverty plays in the spread of AIDS. His awakening came in the early 1980s when, as a faculty physician at the University of Miami Medical School, he saw AIDS spreading through the city's Haitian population. He tells stories of patients-men, women and children-with clear signs of AIDS (believed at that time to be a disease of gay men and drug users) and how they were stigmatized by medical personnel. Among others, Fournier gives a moving account of Regis, a Haitian dentist who, may have contacted the virus through his work in medically primitive conditions. The author became completely committed to understanding this illness, and with supportive colleagues he traveled many times to Haiti and founded Project Medishare, devoted to improving Haiti's health-care system. He was especially successful in the town of Thomonde, establishing an initiative to train physicians and nurses. Fournier offers brutal descriptions of the poverty that fuels AIDS in Haiti, a country where malnutrition reigns, young women are forced into prostitution and orphanages abound. B&w photos. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Annotation This memoir of a dedicated doctor battling the AIDS epidemic in Haiti does more than chronicle the story of a horrible disease. It is a moving tribute to the abundant courage, resilience, and dignity of a people beset by tragedy. The Zombie Curse A Doctor's 25-Year Journey into the Heart of the AIDS Epidemic in Haiti Arthur M. Fournier, M.D., with Daniel Herlihy Dr. Art Fournier met his first AIDS patient on an autumn afternoon in 1979. Of course, neither Fournier nor his colleagues at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital fully understood the chilling impact of what they were seeing. They were simply confounded by the fact that the patient failed to respond to treatment and, ultimately, died. During the next several months scores of additional patients presented themselves with similar symptoms--and met the same fate. Beyond the medical similarities, there was another bond that grouped these patients together: they were all Haitian immigrants. The zombie curse had descended on south Florida. As the AIDS epidemic unfolded around the world, Dr. Fournier witnessed the chaos, confusion, and blame that was to become associated with this baffling disease. Nothing in his background, education, or training prepared him for the journey that lay ahead. The death and misery were devastating, the disease frustrating and mysterious, and the spiritual toll as catastrophic as the physical. It soon became apparent that science alone could not win this epic battle. We follow Dr. Fournier to Haiti where he searches for ways to treat patients with AIDS--not simply the physical symptoms, but also the stereotyping and blame heaped on both the victims and even the doctors that tend to them. In large measure it is the generous spirit of a proud people that move and motivate Fournier, ultimately releasing him from his own zombie curse. This memoir of a dedicated doctor battling the AIDS epidemic in Haiti does more than chronicle the story of a horrible disease. It is a moving tribute to the abundant courage, resilience, and dignity of a people beset by tragedy This memoir of a dedicated doctor battling the AIDS epidemic in Haiti does more than chronicle the story of a horrible disease. It is a moving tribute to the abundant courage, resilience, and dignity of a people beset by tragedy.The Zombie Curse A Doctorâ€TMs 25-Year Journey into the Heart of the AIDS Epidemic in Haiti Arthur M. Fournier, M.D., with Daniel Herlihy Dr. Art Fournier met his first AIDS patient on an autumn afternoon in 1979. Of course, neither Fournier nor his colleagues at Miamiâ€TMs Jackson Memorial Hospital fully understood the chilling impact of what they were seeing. They were simply confounded by the fact that the patient failed to respond to treatment and, ultimately, died. During the next several months scores of additional patients presented themselves with similar symptomsâ€'and met the same fate. Beyond the medical similarities, there was another bond that grouped these patients together: they were all Haitian immigrants. The zombie curse had descended on south Florida. As the AIDS epidemic unfolded around the world, Dr. Fournier witnessed the chaos, confusion, and blame that was to become associated with this baffling disease. Nothing in his background, education, or training prepared him for the journey that lay ahead. The death and misery were devastating, the disease frustrating and mysterious, and the spiritual toll as catastrophic as the physical. It soon became apparent that science alone could not win this epic battle. We follow Dr. Fournier to Haiti where he searches for ways to treat patients with AIDSâ€'not simply the physical symptoms, but also the stereotyping and blame heaped on both the victims and even the doctors that tend to them. In large measure it is the generous spirit of a proud people that move and motivate Fournier, ultimately releasing him from his own zombie curse. This memoir of a dedicated doctor battling the AIDS epidemic in Haiti does more than chronicle the story of a horrible disease. It is a moving tribute to the abundant courage, resilience, and dignity of a people beset by tragedy. "Fournier sends out a cry from the front lines about the overwhelming role poverty plays in the spread of AIDS. His awakening came in the early 1980s when, as a faculty physician at the University of Miami Medical School, he saw AIDS spreading through the city's Haitian population. He tells stories of patients-men, women and children-with clear signs of AIDS (believed at that time to be a disease of gay men and drug users) and how they were stigmatized by medical personnel. Among others, Fournier gives a moving account of Regis, a Haitian dentist who, may have contacted the virus through his work in medically primitive conditions. The author became completely committed to understanding this illness, and with supportive colleagues he traveled many times to Haiti and founded Project Medishare, devoted to improving Haiti's health-care system. He was especially successful in the town of Thomonde, establishing an initiative to train physicians and nurses. Fournier offers brutal descriptions of the poverty that fuels AIDS in Haiti, a country where malnutrition reigns, young women are forced into prostitution and orphanages abound."--Publishers Weekly