in France, 200,000 people live with HIV, screening is still too late

Last year, in France, nearly 5,500 people discovered their HIV status.

It's World AIDS Day, Sunday December 1st. The fight against HIV and AIDS is progressing around the world, even if the end of the epidemic remains distant. In France, last year, nearly 5,500 people discovered their HIV status thanks in particular to the intensification of detection campaigns.

In 2023, in France, two thirds of people who discover their HIV status are men, a third are women, according to Santé Publique France. In 55% of cases, transmission occurred during heterosexual intercourse. More than half of the discoveries concern people born abroad. But among them, it is estimated that 4 out of 10 were contaminated by HIV after their arrival in France.

Another statistic: that of the number of HIV carriers who develop the disease. Around 900 people in France last year. The disease and the virus have therefore not disappeared as some might believe. Doctor Marie Médus, specialist in infectious diseases at Perpignan hospital, was moved on Friday on France Bleu Roussillon: “It’s an invisible, unspeakable disease and people still ask me: but does HIV still exist? Yes of course!” Maladies “invisible” because it is still taboo, often hidden. 200,000 people live in France with HIV.

Screening remains the key to overcoming the epidemic. Today, thanks to treatments, we can be HIV positive “porter” therefore from the AIDS virus, without getting sick. And this is thanks to anti-retroviral treatments which prevent the virus from multiplying. In 2023, two thirds of people who developed AIDS were unaware that they were HIV positive. Still according to estimates from Public Health France, nearly 11,000 people in France carry HIV without knowing it.

When they discover it, in more than 4 out of 10 cases, it is at a late stage of the infection, when it is more difficult to treat. The earlier we seek treatment, the better our quality of life and life expectancy are close to normal. Hence the importance of detection as early as possible. A screening which we remind you can be done since January 2022 without a prescription and free of charge in the laboratory. This has made it possible to significantly increase the number of tests, even if this is still insufficient. Screening and identifying HIV-positive people, in addition to treating them, helps break the chain of transmission of the virus.