AIDS conference: not to let down, despite progress

Amsterdam – More money, prevention and less repression of populations at risk: these messages will be hammered from Monday in Amsterdam at the International AIDS Conference, to avoid a rebound of this epidemic that has makes 35 million dead.
  

Celebrities like Prince Harry, actress Charlize Theron and singer Elton John – as well as 15,000 experts and activists – are expected from Monday to Friday at this high mbad, which takes place every two years.

Today, 36.9 million people live with the HIV virus, hoping it will not worsen in AIDS. Nearly three in five are taking antiretroviral therapy to prevent it, the highest proportion ever achieved.

The number of infections fell and for the first time since the beginning of the century, the total annual deaths fell below one million in 2016 (990,000) and 2017 (940,000).

But paradoxically, these advances lead to a relaxation in prevention, which, combined with a fall in international funding, raises fears of a rebound in the epidemic.

" The last time I spoke here in 1992, I never thought I would come back to it 26 years later, alive and healthy ," David said Sunday. Barr, an HIV positive American activist, at a symposium on the eve of the conference.

But this success is " unbelievably fragile ," he warned, fearing that it would come back to " the horror of 1992 ", with a surge of infections and deaths.

At the forefront of concerns: the question of financing.

" We will have problems if we do not have more money ," said Sunday the American researcher Mark Dybul, former leader of the Global Fund to fight against AIDS.

Worst-case scenario: Lack of funding adds to an explosion of new infections due to rapid population growth in some hard-hit countries, particularly in Africa.

" Mix these two elements and you will end up in a major crisis ," he warned, fearing that " the world will lose control of the epidemic . "

– Budget cuts –

Last year, 20.6 billion euros were spent on AIDS programs in low- and middle-income countries, which in turn finance 56% of them. according to UNAIDS.

But the UN's AIDS body estimates that $ 7 billion a year is needed for the disease to be no longer a threat to global public health in 2030.

The community of Researchers and badociations are especially concerned about a decline in US endowments.

Since the election of Donald Trump, the United States, the first major contributor to the fight against AIDS, have planned cuts, which have not yet been realized.

On the front of the epidemic, if the situation improves overall in the world, it hides great disparities.

Infections are on the rise in about 50 countries, for lack of prevention or because of repressive legislation against populations at risk (homobaduals, drug addicts).

This is why the badociations urge international politicians to stop repressing drug addiction and give priority to risk reduction programs (provision of sterile syringes, consumption rooms, etc.).

" Say No to the War on Drugs ", Coalition PLUS argues, a group of badociations, in a campaign that diverts a famous US drug slogan of the 1980s.

It's entitled " Just say no to the war on drugs ", in reference to " Just say no " (" Say no " to the drug) of the Reagan administration.

The war against drugs is " the best ally of the epidemics of HIV and viral hepatitis " and " led to a real health catastrophe ," accuses Coalition PLUS.