World AIDS Day

The world is living with AIDS for over twenty-five years. And in twenty-five years, the evolution of the disease has been fundamentally different, depending on countries and regions.Over the past decade, citizens of rich countries feel less and less concerned about the disease and prevention efforts’ efficiency dropped.

 

Ironically it was the success of treatment that is the cause. Today, thanks to the remarkable effectiveness of presently available treatments, the so-called “triple therapy”, people with HIV can now lead a perfectly normal life. They can work, love, and why not have healthy children.

Unfortunately, such achievement is now hindering prevention efforts. Many people deem unnecessary to protect themselves and tend to abandon condom use. “Why should I deprive myself? Whatever happens, I’ll only have to take three tablets a day to live healthily for the remainder of my life!”
Alas, with such reasoning, we only get thousands of new AIDS contaminations every year!

AIDS fight is not over. We must persevere with prevention efforts. We must strongly assert that tritherapy drug treatment is not a miracle solution and that their long-term effects remain unclear.

We must reduce the number of those who are HIV-positive without knowing it. We must advocate for an HIV testing policy which is centered on at-risk populations.   
We must finally be much more concerned about what is now happening abroad.

There is still a majority of nations where AIDS is spreading because of shame, fear and preconceived ideas. It is the case in some countries of sub-Saharan Africa. It is the case of India, where the AIDS pandemic is dramatically expanding – where some confidence tricksters sell cow urine based miracle remedies!

In poor countries, more than 3 million people are now getting the treatment they need, however 7 more million are still waiting. This is why we call for a global solidarity of all nations concerned, because it is our common duty to end AIDS.