AIDS virus: "The coronavirus has made things worse because there is no longer any political will"

Mélanie Faure 5:51 p.m., March 26, 2022

The red ribbons are back: the sidaction campaign is being held this weekend.

This 29th edition of Sidaction is chaired by Line Renaud and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

The challenge ?

Raising awareness of the challenges of the fight against AIDS and raising funds for Sidaction.

Jean-Luc Roméro is one of the famous faces of AIDS activists.

Asked at the microphone of Europe 1, the Deputy Mayor of Paris, President of ELCS (local elected officials against AIDS) recalls that it is still urgent today to advance research to save lives: "Nothing that today, there are 2600 people who, in the world, are going to die in a kind of indifference. Knowing that we, in France, in our rich countries, we are lucky to have treatments. 

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Jean-Luc Roméro explains that the coronavirus pandemic has reversed the cards and turned the means put in place for AIDS upside down.

"Clovid-19 has unfortunately made things worse because the means are no longer there, whereas today we could live in a world without AIDS. If we manage to screen everyone, if we manage to put under treatment everyone, AIDS can disappear."

Supporting evidence: the UNAIDS program is at a standstill.

"We don't even have a goal for 2030 anymore. Unfortunately, there is no more political will and we don't talk about it anymore," he laments.

I'

AIDS, forgotten in the presidential election

To dream again of achieving the end of AIDS, Jean-Luc Roméro calls on political figures to mobilize, while the presidential campaign is in full swing.

"There is a backtracking of knowledge, we have to talk about it."

Better inform?

40% of young people say they are "poorly informed" about AIDS prevention, reveals a study by the IFOP, released on the occasion of Sidaction, an annual meeting on AIDS prevention.

How is AIDS transmitted, how to protect yourself against it,... it's not very clear in the minds of some young people.

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He deplores: "You realize that all these candidates who are running today can be the Presidents of a France without AIDS. But there is not a word. They have the means to do so and unfortunately, it's not and it's normal that we talk about the empty shell. Today, the situation is also extremely important. They can put the means into screening, into treatment."

Sidaction 2022:

call for donations

By telephone: by calling 110 (freephone number)

By Internet:

 www.sidaction.org

By SMS to 92110: by sending the word "DONATION" to make a small donation of 5 euros (cost of sending the SMS free or included in the SMS packages)