A few days before Sidaction 2023, the results of the annual survey carried out with the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) among 15-24 year olds show that received ideas about HIV/AIDS are taking root and are not disappearing. Faced with this observation, an intensification of awareness campaigns and the effective application of the three compulsory annual sessions of sexuality education at school have been requested by the association.
Created in 1994, the association for the fight against HIV/AIDS, Sidaction, is also a major television event and then an audiovisual marathon on public channels which is held each year in order to collect donations which equally finance programs research centers and patient care and prevention associations, in France and abroad. Forty years after the discovery of the AIDS virus, we have never been closer to enjoying a future without AIDS. The arrival of the first treatments and, more recently, therapeutic relief have given great hope to researchers and medical personnel. Today, an HIV-positive person on effective treatment no longer transmits the virus. But HIV/AIDS remains a reality, very stigmatizing for the people who live with it. For the year 2021, in France, 29% of people who discovered their seropositivity were at an advanced stage of the infection, a figure which is not decreasing. However, screening came to a halt in 2020, during the covid-19 crisis: activity fell by 13% compared to 2019 and this delay was not made up for in 2021. However, the testing remains crucial in the fight against HIV, both to ensure the health of those infected and to control the epidemic. It is therefore necessary to encourage it, again and again. This is the fight led on a daily basis by the AIDES Saint-Martin association, which is part of the board of directors of Sidaction at the national level. Coordinated by Angeline Pottier, AIDES Saint-Martin collaborates with other associative structures such as Safe or the Red Cross and the Louis-Constant Fleming hospital center through awareness campaigns and screening in the field.
On the Dutch side, St. Maarten AIDS Foundation provides, among other things, prevention work. More than 5.000 people discover their HIV status each year in France and 1,5 million worldwide. In 2021, 38,4 million people worldwide were living with HIV, 5,9 million of them unknowingly. It is essential to continue the fight. On March 24, 25 and 26, 2023, Sidaction and its 35 partner media remain committed to three days of mobilization, information, awareness and fundraising with the general public. Donate for an AIDS-free future. _VX
Info: https://2023.sidaction.org – Facebook: Aides Saint-Martin
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