On International AIDS Day, Tuesday 1 December, the world can rejoice in the progress made in many countries. But not everything is going in the right direction, as shown by the appeal for donations that the SIS (Santé Info Solidarité) network has just launched via the Ulule crowdfunding platform for the acquisition of a dental care chair. A first!
Constituted as an exceptional cause during the 1990s, AIDS is now less present in the public arena, sometimes left to its specialists. During the 1990s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has received attention commensurate with the fear of the disease. This period was marked by a proliferation of discourse and initiatives: artistic productions, research, militant actions, prevention campaigns, fund-raising, etc. The epidemic has become the focus of much attention. This exceptional treatment is now a thing of the past. The arrival of triple therapy in 1996 helped to normalize the disease, which is now often presented as treatable and chronic, at least in the countries of the North. The use of antiretroviral drugs, both for treatment and prevention, makes it possible to treat the sick, to make them non-contaminating, or to protect HIV-negative individuals. It is these elements that allow the UN to envisage, from 2011 and in the long term, the "end of AIDS".
This account of the end of AIDS involves a linear and heroic conception of physicians, organizations such as the SIS - Health Info SolidarityThe international community, and particularly the financial resources, will be able to make progress in the fight against the disease if international mobilization, and in particular financial resources, are commensurate with the task. This is not always the case.
Marc Frémondière, a nursing executive at the "190", care coordinator, financial interface and partnership manager, testifies here to the centre's lack of resources, giving a glimpse of an associative world in crisis. The "190" is well known as the first sexual health centre in France, initiated by the Sida-Info-Service association, offering a screening, monitoring and care service based on non-discrimination and acceptance of each person's sexual lifestyle. They need a chair to allow free access to care for the greatest number of people. Because, as a study published by the Institut de veille sanitaire (InVS) points out (1), the numbers show HIV as still active.
(1) Study by the Institute for Health Surveillance (InVS)of 23 November 2015 - www.invs.sante.fr
