The association Sida / Les Liaisons Dangereuses and its many partners will organize tomorrow a “Health prevention village” at Sandy Ground, as part of the 2015 global campaign against AIDS. During this event, which will take place from 8 am to 14 pm in front of the cultural center, the population will not only be made aware of AIDS, but also of other diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
This year, the partners of the “Health prevention village” - including the Center for information, screening and diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections (CIDDIST), Active Maternity, Tournesol, Saint-Martin Santé, Aides, France Alzheimer, the Guadeloupe association for cancer screening (AGWADEC) and the Guadeloupe cancer league - have chosen the theme “AIDS: one disease among others”. “We did not want to focus solely on AIDS, because we want to reach as many people as possible during this event,” said Ketty Karam Fischer, president of Sida / Les Liaisons Dangereuses, during the press briefing last Wednesday. . Several stands - “AIDS / sexual health”; "Addictions" ; “Youth health area”; “Nutrition / diabetes / hypertension”; “Handicap”; “Cancer”; “Alzheimer's” - will be available to the public, as well as a van for testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
“AIDS is well controlled from a medical point of view, it is risky sexual behavior that remains less controlled. Today, it is no more serious to have AIDS than a good number of cancers ”, underlines Frédéric Olivo, coordinating doctor at the Sida / Les Liaisons Dangereuses association. The disease remains in a migrant population and, above all, economic insecurity is a factor of vulnerability, vis-à-vis HIV. The Caribbean is classified in zone 4 for AIDS, that is to say that we are in a situation of generalized epidemic, according to the WHO. ” According to CIDDIST data, 1078 people applied for screening in 2015 to the Sida / Les Liaisons Dangereuses association. Nadia Agape, CIDDIST nurse at the Saint-Martin hospital center, specifies that there are “nearly 600 patients followed partly in France and 200 on the Dutch side”. Since the start of the year, 900 rapid diagnostic orientation tests (TROD) have been carried out by Aides. “We had around ten HIV-positive people who took the test,” says Dahlia François, facilitator at Aides. Regarding the rapid self-test for HIV infection, it remains difficult to access in the region. “We did a tour of all the pharmacies in October. Some pharmacies have ordered just one self-test, explaining that this device is not very suitable for the population of Saint-Martin, because of its cost, around 25 euros, which is high. A test can even cost up to 50 euros in Guadeloupe! ”Adds Nadia Agape.
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