“There is clearly an increase in HIV cases in Estrie. Just in our membershiplast year we already had a record year and this year, in just five months we reached the same number as last year,” declared Valérie Samson, director of La Réplique Estrie, a support organization for people living with HIV.
The primary issue according to Ms. Samson would be the stigmatization faced by people with HIV. She points out that their life expectancy remains similar to the general population and that science has improved over the years.
Today, many treatments are available for AIDS, but research continues, particularly at the University of Sherbrooke.
“With antivirals, we see much less mortality in a country like Canada, but everywhere in the world as well,” indicated Brendan Bell, professor in the department of microbiology-infectiology at the University of Sherbrooke.
With his research, Professor Bell wants to develop a drug that would lead to a cure for an AIDS patient.
“We want to find small molecules that will lead to drugs that will lead to a cure and we are in collaboration with a team in Montreal which is carrying out studies with artificial intelligence tools to find precisely these small molecules.”
Organizations are taking advantage of World AIDS Day on December 1 to raise awareness. However, they complain about the lack of money invested and say that this is having a snowball effect on the ground.
This Friday, Québec solidaire should table a motion in the National Assembly to request easier access to screening, particularly by community organizations.
See Fanny Lachance-Paquette’s report in the video.
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