France's Plan To Combat HIV/AIDS Is Known As "Sidaction 2023"

650,000 people still lose their lives to it every year, despite scientific advancements. However, in only 20 years, the death toll from AIDS has dropped by half worldwide. By 2030, it is hoped that HIV/AIDS will be eradicated on an international level.

While the coronavirus crisis presented obstacles to the AIDS response (poor patient access to care, diverted finances to combat COVID-19), it also resulted in the strengthening of the medical and research structures.

France was one of the first countries to mobilise in the battle against HIV/AIDS, and its foreign strategy has been grounded on the principles of solidarity, fair and universal access to medicines, and end to prejudice.

Since its creation 20 years ago, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has received €5.5 billion from France, making it the second-largest donor behind the United States. Through its help, 44 million lives have been rescued thanks to the Fund. At the Pasteur Institute, President Macron promised an extraordinary €1.8 billion investment from France for the next three years. Already in 2019, his forecast of €1.3 billion represented an increase of 20% over the last cycle. The new Global Fund strategy for 2023–2028 places a greater emphasis on preventive care, the involvement of local groups, as well as the fight against inequality.

France has contributed the most to UNITAID (€2 billion since 2006), an organisation it co-founded with Brazil that helps those in need get HIV testing and treatment more quickly and at lower costs. UNITAID is a group that prioritises creativity and new ideas. It is estimated that annually these breakthrough products and methods save over three million illnesses and save the lives of over one hundred thousand people.

The country also provides funding to UNAIDS, which advocates for HIV/AIDS research and provides monitoring and analysis.

Lastly, starting in 2021, France provided funding to the Medicines Patent Pool, a UN- and UNITAID-backed initiative that aims to speed up the development of generic brands of life-saving medications, including antiretroviral drugs.

 

Source: diplomatie.gouv.fr