In Guinea, Médecins Sans Frontières remains a key player in the fight against AIDS
December 1 is World AIDS Day. In Guinea, 130,000 people are infected with HIV. While patient care has improved, the needs remain immense and the authorities are still too dependent on international aid. For twenty years, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been a key player in the fight against the disease in this country.
Listen - 01:27
The AIDS virus (yellow) infecting a human cell. © Unsplash - National-cancer-institute
By: RFI Follow
Advertising
Read More
With our correspondent in Conakry, Matthias Raynal
At 44 years old, Aboubacar is a "patient-expert" for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). "My role is to help, to demystify HIV," he explains. Wherever there is stigma, I give testimony with my face uncovered."
Aboubacar has been HIV-positive since 2008. At first, he found it difficult to accept his illness: "I had a distaste for life. I even tried to commit suicide two or three times because the disease had made me too tired.
»« Undetectable viral load »
But today, his treatment is working well. He has a wife, a daughter, a normal life: "I have an undetectable viral load. Undetectable viral load and there is zero transmission. Today, I'm even healthier than you! (Laughs) Because I can eat three guys' dish. I eat a lot, I live positively.
»AIDS care in Guinea has continued to improve. Dr. Hippolyte Mboma Kamosi explains: "In twenty years, a lot has been accomplished. In 2004, MSF introduced free, high-quality care.
»« Handover with the government »
Dr Mboma Kamosi is the field coordinator of MSF's HIV project in Conakry: "MSF is an emergency issue, which means that HIV is no longer an emergency disease. Little by little, we have to get out. But to get out, we have to go through the handover with the government. We have to be sure that everything we have done will be taken into account."
MSF is currently treating more than 17,000 patients living with HIV in Guinea.
Read alsoPriority Health - The challenges of the fight against HIV/AIDS in Guinea
NewsletterGet all the latest international news straight to your inbox
Subscribe now
Keep up to date with all the latest international news by downloading the RFI app
Share:
Most read
1
28/11/2023
A cult network of tantric yoga dismantled in France
2
29/11/2023
Burkina Faso: What the images of the attack on the Djibo base say
3
30/11/2023