AIDS virus: “The coronavirus has made things worse because there is no longer any political will”

The red ribbons are back: the Sidaction campaign is being held this weekend. This 29th edition is chaired by Line Renaud and Jean-Paul Gaultier. The challenge ? Raising awareness of the challenges of the fight against AIDS and raising funds for Sidaction.

Jean-Luc Roméro is one of the famous faces of AIDS activists. Asked at the microphone of Europe 1, the Deputy Mayor of Paris and president of ELCS (local elected officials against AIDS) recalls that it is still urgent today to advance research to save lives: “Nothing that today, there are 2100 people who, in the world, are going to die in a kind of indifference. Knowing that we, in France, in our rich countries, we are lucky to have treatments.

Jean-Luc Roméro explains that the coronavirus pandemic has turned the tables and turned the means put in place to fight AIDS upside down. “Covid-19 has unfortunately made things worse because the means are no longer there, whereas today we could live in a world without AIDS. If we manage to screen everyone, if we manage to put under treatment everyone, AIDS can disappear.” Supporting evidence: the UNAIDS program is slowing down, he says. “We don’t even have a goal for 2030 anymore. Unfortunately, there is no more political will and we don’t talk about it anymore,” he laments. UNAIDS is a joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS that leads the global effort to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 as part of the sustainable development.

AIDS, forgotten in the presidential election

To dream again of achieving the end of AIDS, Jean-Luc Roméro calls on political figures to mobilize, while the presidential campaign is in full swing. “There is a backtracking of knowledge, we have to talk about it.” Talk about it to inform? The figures testify to this: 40% of young people say they are “poorly informed” about AIDS prevention, reveals a study by the IFOP, released on the occasion of Sidaction. How is AIDS transmitted, how to protect yourself from it,… it’s not very clear in the minds of some young people.

He deplores: “You realize that all these candidates who are running today can be the Presidents of a France without AIDS. But there is not a word. They have the means to do so and unfortunately, it’s not and it’s normal that we talk about the empty shell. Today, the situation is also extremely important. They can put the means into screening, into treatment.”