“When I received the diagnosis, I burst into tears. I thought I was going to die the next day
. ”
Joseph remembers that cursed day in 1985 as if it were yesterday. He receives the results of a blood test taken a few days earlier.
The diagnosis hits, relentless: he is infected with HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
On the phone, the now sixty-year-old is silent for a moment.
Then continues, with a tight throat:
“You have to understand the state I was in.
At that time, people were dropping like flies from this “gay cancer”.
And no one said anything.”
40 years later, the epidemic has affected 75 million people and caused 35 million deaths worldwide.
In France, around 200,000 people are currently living with the virus.
Its prevention and the search for treatment to eliminate it are at the heart of the program of the Sidaction association, which is celebrating 30 years of fighting against HIV on March 23.
“Fortunately, the volunteers involved in…
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