For twenty years, Médecins sans frontières (MSF) has been involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, a disease which is still one of the most deadly in the DRC. More than 14,000 patients died last year in the country.
When MSF teams opened the very first free treatment center in the commune of Lingwala in Kinshasa in May 2002, the situation was critical: more than a million men, women and children were then living with HIV in the DRC, and the virus kills between 50,000 and 200,000 people there each year, according to UNAIDS. Despite considerable progress in the DRC over the past twenty years, major problems remain, including access to testing and treatment.
” Today, we still have around 440,000 patients who are on ARV treatment [antirétroviraux, NDLR]we have around 14,000 patients who died whereas in 2002 it was around 100,000. It is truly an anniversary that has a bitter taste because behind this tree of success hides a great forest of challenges , regret Bonard Kiala, deputy head of the HIV/AIDS response project for MSF in the DRC, at the microphone of our correspondent, Pascal Mulegwa.
Today, screening is not accessible to everyone. We also have problems with children: statistics show that 2/3 of children under 14 are not cared for. Today, this viral load measurement is not accessible to all people living with HIV.
Efforts have been made but we say that these efforts are not enough, we must still take the lead to accelerate this response, we must not continue to watch unnecessary deaths linked to HIV/AIDS. »
Bonard Kiala is the deputy head of the HIV/AIDS response project for MSF in the DRC. He is at the microphone of Pascal Mulegwa.