On this World AIDS Day, Pride Marseille would like to remind you that serophobia still exists in our society, including within our own community.

Indeed, serophobia still strikes insidiously on a daily basis: whether it is the refusal of care or services, the clichés on dating apps ("are you clean?" implies that a person living with HIV is "dirty") or a disturbing lack of knowledge among general practitioners about PrEp¹, Pride Marseille would like to see discriminating behaviors linked to real or supposed HIV status condemned, punished and erased once and for all.

Pride Marseille reminds us that people who are under anti-HIV treatment and whose viral load is undetectable cannot transmit the virus. The tools are there and research is progressing, but the response of the public authorities is still
not sufficient to curb this pandemic: 680,000 people died of AIDS in 2020 and more than 1.5 million people were infected that same year².

Pride Marseille emphasizes that inequality of access to care has increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the supply of antiviral treatments in sub-Saharan Africa. We remind the state that it is our duty of solidarity to help all populations, including the most vulnerable.

Pride Marseille wishes to reiterate its demands and its full support for associations fighting against HIV:

• Acting with migrant populations (maintaining and respecting the law against the expulsion of sick foreigners).
• Acting against discrimination and LGBTI phobias which are the bedrock of epidemics in a society where "diversity" and seropositivity are still factors of rejection.
• Advocating for the right of people living with HIV to insurance and bank loans.
• Acting for equal access to care in the free environment and in prison.
• Campaigning for the preservation and the acquisition of new rights, particularly in terms of access to treatment (free care to avoid a two-tier system).
• Advocating for an increase in the French government's financial commitment to the fight against AIDS in developing countries.
• Transforming society through new methods of prevention adapted to each sexuality, personality and environment.
• Transforming society through research that enables the diagnosis and validation of new approaches.
• Transforming society through awareness campaigns aimed at the most vulnerable populations and at the general public.

Pride Marseille would like to highlight the initiative of the city of Marseille this December 1 which consists of offering a free rapid screening test along with an awareness campaign on the square in front of City Hall. However, Pride Marseille also reminds us that there are 650,000 fewer screening tests performed in 2020³ as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and that the public authorities must treat both pandemics equally with an unparalleled mobilization, for the final goal of an AIDS-free world.