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More money, prevention and less repression of populations at risk, problems on the menu of the International AIDS Conference opening in Amsterdam / AFP / Archives
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 caused 35 million deaths.
Celebrities like Prince Harry, actress Charlize Theron or 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, in esp that it does not worsen in AIDS. Nearly three out of five are taking antiretroviral therapy to prevent it, the highest proportion ever attained.
The number of infections is declining and for the first time since the turn of the century the annual total of deaths has fallen below million in 2016 (990,000) then 2017 (940,000).
But paradoxically, these advances lead to a relaxation in prevention, which, combined with a decrease in international funding, raises fears of a rebound in the epidemic.
The HIV epidemic in the world / AFP
"The last time I spoke here in 1992, I never thought I would come back 26 years later, living and in good health, "David Barber, an HIV-positive American activist, told a conference on the eve of the conference on Sunday.
But this success is" incredibly fragile, "he said. he warned, fearing that we would come back to "the horror of 1992, "with an outbreak of infection and death"
At the forefront of concerns: the question of funding
"We are going to have problems if we do not have more money", badured Sunday the American researcher Mark Dybul, former leader of the Global Fund to fight against AIDS.
The worst scenario according to him: that the lack of funding is added to an explosion of new infections because of the galloping demography in some countries hard hit, especially in Africa.
Various antiretroviral treatments to be distributed free at a center for AIDS patients, 4 August 2009 in Jakarta, Indonesia / AFP / Archives
"Mix these two elements and bring you together pull out 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 themselves finance 56%, according to UNAIDS.
But the AIDS the UN estimates that $ 7 billion a year is needed for the disease to be no longer a threat to global public health by 2030.
AIDS: access unequal to care / AFP
The community of researchers and badociations is especially concerned about a decline in US endowments.
Since the election of Donald Trump, the United States, the first historical contributor to the fight against AIDS, have planned budget cuts, which have not yet been achieved.
On the front of the epidemic Although the situation is improving globally, it hides wide disparities.
Infections are on the rise in about 50 countries, for lack of prevention or because of repressive legislation against populations at risk (homobaduals,
This is why the badociations urge international politicians to stop repressing drug addiction and give priority to harm reduction programs (provision of sterile syringes, consumption rooms, etc.). [19659004"Saynotothewarondrugs"saysCoalitionPLUSagroupofbadociationsinacampaignthatdivertsafamousUSdrugsloganofthe80s
It's titled "Just say no to the war on drugs ", in reference to the Reagan Administration's" Just Say No "
The War on Drugs is" the best ally of HIV and hepatitis epidemics " s "and" led to a real health disaster ", accuses Coalition PLUS.
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