Worldwide, 38 million people were living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in 2019. Mainly transmitted sexually (via anal or vaginal penetration), the virus gradually leads to the development of an Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Acquired – we speak of AIDS.
AIDS is far from having disappeared: in 2018, 6,200 French people discovered that they were seropositive, that is to say infected with HIV. Among them, 13% of young people aged 15 to 24 …
Problem: in this period of the coronavirus epidemic, general knowledge about HIV (how is it transmitted? How to protect yourself from it?) Is dwindling. This is the conclusion of a recent survey published by Sidaction on March 21, 2021, where we first learn that 67% of young people aged 15 to 24 consider themselves “knowledgeable“on AIDS – a drop of 7 points compared to last year. 51% of young people polled think they are”knowledgeable about where to go for testing“- a decline of 20 points compared to 2014.
Fear of HIV / AIDS is decreasing (and this is not good news)
Misconceptions about HIV are growing. Thus, 24% of 15-24 year olds think that “the AIDS virus can be spread by kissing someone who is HIV positive“, which represents an increase of 9 points in one year. 23% of respondents believe that HIV is transmitted”while sitting on a public toilet seat“(against 15% in 2020) and 18%”drinking from a glass of an HIV-positive person“. 25% consider that it exists”medicines to cure AIDS“.
“All this indicates a decline in knowledge about HIV in the population, worries Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, president of Sidaction, questioned by our colleagues from Sunday Newspaper. We say to ourselves: nevertheless, forty years after the identification of the disease, we are still there in the prejudices? It is frightening, and very worrying for tomorrow.“
At the same time, the fear of AIDS is decreasing: 63% of 15-24 year olds express concern about HIV in 2021 against 72% in 2020. And 41% of those polled believe that there is less and less contamination among 15-24 year olds – which is false: the figure is stable. More worrying undoubtedly: only 34% of the people questioned declare “consistently using a condom during sex“- this is a drop of 9 points compared to 2021. What if we updated our knowledge to protect our health?
Source: Ifop survey for Sidaction carried out in February 2021 with 1,002 people aged 15 to 24.
Read also :
- HIV and STIs: testing has fallen dangerously in 2020
- Kaposi’s sarcoma: what you need to know about this AIDS-related cancer
- 80 teens die of AIDS every day
