AIDS: the Covid pandemic has had a major impact on the fight against HIV

“The Covid-19 pandemic is not at all diminishing the importance and devastation caused by the HIV pandemic,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Jeenah Moon GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP / File

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

The big annual congress devoted to research against HIV / AIDS ended this Wednesday evening, July 21.

Three days of conferences and presentations of scientific results and a parasitic guest: the Covid-19.

The current pandemic has had a great impact on the fight against HIV / AIDS, to the point of jeopardizing the efforts made for years.

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Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, HIV testing has decreased by 41%. One pandemic is chasing another. " 

The Covid-19 pandemic does not diminish the importance and devastation caused by the HIV pandemic at all,

" said Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

We must devote our full attention to this and remember that in the billions and billions of dollars invested in research and public health, some may be directed towards HIV. We must ensure that we do not lose sight of the importance of HIV.

 "

HIV / AIDS is still relevant today: 700,000 people died of it last year.

If this congress was an opportunity to present results in terms of treatment and prevention, the observation is clear: it will be useless if everyone does not have access to it.

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AIDS: 40 years after the first cases, where are we?

Our fight is not against a single disease, our fight is against a world where people get sick and die simply because of who they are, where they come from, how much they earn,

" said Dr Tedros Adhanom. Ghebreyesus, the boss of the World Health Organization, at the closing ceremony.

Our fight is not health for a few, or health for the majority.

It is health for all.

 "

A fight more relevant than ever: for a person sick with HIV, the risk of dying from Covid-19 is twice as high as for the rest of the population.

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Also to listen: AIDS: "We now have a medicine suitable for children, with a much lower price"

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