HIV testing had increased by 6% between 2018 and 2019. But the year 2020 has come to break the upward curve in the fight against sexually transmitted infections. Screening fell by 60% between February and April without the level rising before the crisis, underlines Public Health France in an epidemiological bulletin.
From this beginning of December, concrete actions will be carried out, in particular through the creation of sexual health centers in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier, set up by associations. The objective is to facilitate access to screening and treatment for the populations most exposed to STIs. One place for the whole process and an accelerated route.
Better therapeutic coordination, more accessible treatments
In these centers, it will also be possible to be vaccinated against the papillomavirus, to obtain pre and post exposure treatment to HIV, but also to have a consultation with an addictologist, a gynecologist, a psychologist, a social worker. .
It should be remembered that HIV preventive treatment (PrEP) is 100% covered in France for populations at risk. But its access required a first prescription in a hospital environment, which constituted a brake on the distribution of the prophylactic drug. By the start of 2021, the first-time prescription of PrEP should be made possible for city doctors.
Generally, knowing your HIV status is protecting your health and the health of others. But for this, it is necessary to promote treatments as prevention tools, to facilitate their access and of course their appropriation, underlines the Ministry of Solidarity and Health.
Read also:
- HIV: a campaign to break the taboo surrounding HIV-positive people
- AIDS: first transmission of a multidrug-resistant strain of HIV in France
