By RFPosted on 01-12-2019Modified on 01-12-2019 at 06:55

In Bangui, Central African Republic, a children's and youth club, "E Bata Guigui" ("Let's preserve life") brings together several hundred children, adolescents and young adults. They train and receive support from, among others, UNAIDS and UNICEF. Young girls can take computer training.

Like all girls of their age, they laugh, have pretty handbags and think about boys. " At one point, I became seriously ill, I did not know what I was suffering ," says Agnès *, now 23 years old. My dad brought me to the hospital to do my general checkup and discovered my status. At the time, I thought that AIDS did not exist ... My friend did not tell me that he was contaminated. When I saw him in good health, I thought there was nothing. That's how I got sick and then he left . "

The lack of information and awareness weighs heavily in the rate of new infections, to which must be added all those infected by their mother at birth, like Bertille *, 20 years. " I was taking the drugs until I was 17 and when I was at that age, I decided to stop taking my treatments ," she explains. I need someone to explain to me what I am suffering so much. And it was not easy for my older sister and my grandma to really explain what I'm suffering from. I was told but it was not easy for me to accept my serology. I condemned my father because it is because of him that I suffer and it was not easy for me to forgive him ".

Stigmatization of the sick

Young people living with HIV suffer from many stigmas and sometimes from violence. The youth of E Bata Guigui ("Let's preserve life"), an organization of children and adolescents living with HIV, meet regularly to discuss their difficulties and find solutions together.

In the Central African Republic, the prevalence of AIDS is estimated at 3.6% among 15- to 49-year-olds. Women represent 53.6% of people living with HIV. The incidence of HIV remains very high at 3,500 to 8,000 new infections per year. Young girls are very concerned. The government has put in place a plan to accelerate HIV prevention (2019-2020). But only 26% of the plan is funded. The government has called this week for donor support. It still lacks 4.5 million euros to be able to carry out this program.

* The given names have been changed

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