Paris (AFP)

The epidemic of Covid-19 has weakened the fight against AIDS, alarms the association Sidaction, which calls for donations before a special evening Thursday to replace its annual collection weekend, canceled during the confinement in April.

"During the confinement, research projects were suspended, as well as prevention and screening actions", explains to AFP the general director of Sidaction, Florence Thune.

According to her, "several months have been lost" in terms of screening and prevention for a "very precarious public", including "migrants and sex workers".

Traditionally organized over three days, the Sidaction was canceled this year because of the Covid-19 epidemic, when it should have taken place in early April (with an evening broadcast on television).

This poses the risk of a heavy financial loss, since the three days of mobilization had raised 4.5 million euros in pledges in 2019.

For almost 15 years, the Sidaction weekend has represented around 30% of the collection of the association of the same name, which collects donations throughout the year.

Instead, a unique evening entitled "100 years of musicals: the stars sing for Sidaction" will take place on Thursday, broadcast by France 2.

"It's only a day but we really hope that donors will be there," said Florence Thune.

"If we don't go up the slope in terms of fundraising this year, we are very worried about the maintenance of our funding from 2021, which weighs on dozens of research projects and a hundred associations including we support the activity, "she continues.

This year, donations can be made by internet (www.sidaction.org), by SMS (to 92110, for an automatic donation of 5 euros) or by mail (Sidaction, 228, rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin, 75010 PARIS) .

The first Sidaction, on April 7, 1994, made it possible to garner 45 million euros, collected during 9 hours of direct television broadcast.

Sidaction's president is researcher Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of the virus in the early 1980s and 2008 Nobel Prize winner in medicine. She succeeded the businessman Pierre Bergé after the latter's death in 2017.

The vice-president is the singer and actress Line Renaud.

© 2020 AFP