Published on
Updated
Reading 2 min.
Prevention and screening, two key elements in the fight against HIV, are still poorly understood by the French, as revealed by a survey carried out on the occasion of World AIDS Day. The majority of people questioned are unaware, for example, that an HIV-positive person under treatment does not transmit the virus.
Each year, as part of World AIDS Day, on December 1, surveys follow one another to remind us of the importance of adopting good reflexes, particularly in terms of prevention, to hope to put an end to AIDS in years or decades to come. But it is clear that the levels of information on this subject remain insufficient, even if the populations claim to be well informed themselves. This is what reveals a recent survey produced by Toluna Harris Interactive for Crips Ile-de-France. We learn that eight out of ten French people consider themselves generally well informed about HIV/AIDS, a figure equivalent to the previous two years, but the gap between perception and reality seems to continue to widen.
Several methods of prevention
Knowing the methods of prevention is essential in trying to stop AIDS, but the survey nevertheless reveals a significant lack of knowledge on the subject. Nearly two thirds of respondents (64%) think, for example, that the condom is the only method of preventing HIV/AIDS, including 76% of those aged 65 and over and 69% of those aged 50-64. Note also that more than half of respondents (53%) are unaware that an HIV-positive person who follows their treatment to the letter cannot transmit HIV and 45% that an HIV-negative person can resort to preventive treatment to avoid be contaminated. There is, however, one positive point: the level of information on the first question has improved considerably in one year: 67% did not know last year that treatment for HIV made it possible to avoid transmitting the virus. virus.
In view of the results, certain information on screening would also merit a little clarification. If the French seem generally well informed about free condoms in pharmacies for those under 26, at 71%, they are much less so when it comes to discussing HIV testing. Just over half of French people (59%) say they are aware of free screening in medical analysis laboratories, and 57% say that it is not necessary to provide a prescription. And the observation is the same when we ask them about the life expectancy of HIV-positive people. Barely more than a third of French people (39%) are aware that people with HIV live as long as the average French person.
Improving prevention at school
According to the French, it is in schools that prevention must be strengthened as a priority to improve the level of information on HIV/AIDS, to the tune of 46%. But a minority (20%) would first like there to be more communication and prevention campaigns in the media, or that health professionals be trained to raise the subject with each patient (13%). Note also that one respondent in ten (11%) considers that it is not necessary to do anything to improve the level of information of the French on HIV/AIDS, this being in their eyes “sufficiently high“.
If we take a closer look at prevention in schools, more than four parents of children studying in middle or high school in ten (43%) believe that the latter is not sufficiently aware of these issues.