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On the occasion of 1 December, World AIDS Day, the Tunisian Association for Positive Prevention ATP + raises the alarm and stresses that global solidarity and shared responsibility are the answer to defeat HIV / AIDS.
World AIDS Day has been celebrated by Tunisia and the whole world since 1988: 32 years of activism to fight this pandemic, various information and awareness campaigns, various programs and projects of solidarity, prevention and medical progress, but it remains still a lot to do! This year the Tunisian ministry of public health is shocking us with alarming figures revealed by international and national studies and reports. Together, we can and must do better on 1 December 2020!
Thanks to universal solidarity and everyone’s responsibility, humanity is starting to be able to face the Covid-19 pandemic. The year 2020 was an exceptional year, but the responsiveness of the countries, the mobilization of groups and the motivation of the people all together taught us how humanity can survive a pandemic. The Tunisian association of positive prevention ATP + takes the opportunity of this year’s World AIDS Day to tell the world and Tunisia to learn the lessons of Covid19 because the 32 years already passed are not enough to save the humanity from another pandemic: HIV.
Today, the data states that internationally there are 39.9 million people living with HIV and that the death toll reached 770,000 people in 2019. As for the national level, the ministry, following the report annual UNAIDS, announces an estimated 6,466 people carrying the HIV virus; only 1,303 are aware of and under treatment, including 745 men, 524 women and 34 children.
“5,163 is the number of people with HIV without knowing it! Being contaminated by a virus, risking the life and that of the people you love, without knowing it and unknowingly, being afraid of others, being terrified of contact are situations experienced by thousands of people this year during the Covid19 crisis, but also experienced by carriers who have been living with HIV for several years, ”says Ms Souhaila Ben Saîd, president of the ATP + association.
The Tunisian Association for Positive Prevention expresses its concern at the disproportionate increase in the number of women living with HIV and points out the notable absence of female condoms nationwide. ATP + blames the significant lack of funds. The association also underlines the excessive difficulties encountered by people living with HIV in accessing the 3 fundamental means to fight the virus; access to care, access to services and access to prevention.
ATP + reminds that the improvement of the quality of life of PLHIV in Tunisia and our only way out of this pandemic depends on some unavoidable demands:
Decentralization and diversification of services throughout Tunisia and improvement of their quality,
The abolition of all punitive laws,
Implementing a reliable strategy to end all forms of stigma and discrimination, particularly in the healthcare environment,
Consideration of women in all their diversity as key populations,
· The adoption of PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), TPE or Post-Exposure Treatment and community screening as reliable weapons in the fight against the virus.
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