Strengthen prevention and access to treatment to stem the AIDS epidemic in Madagascar. This is the slogan delivered on Tuesday October 22 by the director of UNAIDS, the United Nations program engaged in the global fight against AIDS. If the share of the population affected by the virus remains low on the Big Island, the trend is however worrying, with a rapid increase in new infections in recent years.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Guilhem Fabry
The number of people infected with HIV Madagascar almost doubled between 2018 and 2023, countering the progress made in Southern Africa and East Africa, where new infections are declining. According to UNAIDS, 76,000 Malagasy people lived with AIDS last year, and less than a quarter of them had access to treatment.
The organization’s executive director, Winnie Byanyima, offers an explanation for this spread of the disease. “ Here in Madagascar, the country’s economy is facing serious difficulties. It is an economy where the sex trade has flourished. This industry is attracting more and more young unemployed people and children. All of this means that the epidemic, which started modestly among the LGBT+ community, is spreading further and further into the general population “, she reports.
Without measurements, the epidemic will explode »
An epidemic that is very difficult to measure precisely today, due to a lack of effective surveillance systems. Thus, it is likely that the number of cases is largely underestimated according to Winnie Byanyima.
“ Unless measures are not taken for prevention and to ensure that people are tested and receive treatment if they test positive, the epidemic will explode », she anticipates. The director calls on the international community to urgently mobilize technical and financial resources to help Madagascar curb the spread of HIV.
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