A few days before World AIDS Day, on December 1st, Christian Estrosi officially marked Nice’s entry into “Fast Track Cities,” a global network of cities most committed to fighting AIDS, founded by the UN and IAPAC, among others. This network aims to pool resources and actions to enable the world to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
“France is a historical leader, with the eternal ambition to end the AIDS epidemic. It is one of the main contributors to the fight against HIV (…) Today, there is hope. Many things have come together for us to be able to end the epidemic by 2030,” said Christian Estrosi yesterday while presenting the project that is currently driving the city. Being part of the actors who will participate in the eradication of AIDS in the future. “To fully achieve this and ensure that new generations do not know AIDS, all actors must work together in the same direction.”
Nice is the third city in France to accept this partnership. To this end, particular attention must be paid to populations most exposed to HIV (homosexuals, transgender individuals, sex workers, drug users …). Since 2008, the City has allocated more than half a million euros to local actors working on the disease. Each year, one-third of Nice’s health subsidies are dedicated to fighting HIV, and screening operations are regularly implemented. “Nice is one of the few exemplary cities on this topic. But I’ve asked that we go further,” declared the Mayor.
The PACA region is the second most affected region in France. Alpes Maritimes has the highest rate of HIV discovery in the region (124 per million inhabitants). “In Nice, we have a particular responsibility to act.”
This policy falls within the scope of the territorial project “Objective Zero AIDS,” coordinated and deployed by COREVIH. This project brings together all actors in the territory. The first results will be unveiled on World AIDS Day on December 1st.
“I want to say that yes, Nice is one of the most committed global cities against AIDS, that we are a pilot territory, and that we will exchange with other major cities concerned to share our practices and thus do our part to help end the global epidemic,” added the Mayor. In addition to achieving zero AIDS by 2030, the Mayor aims to promote “zero discrimination” and “zero stigma.”
In addition, the Mayor announced through Erwann Le Hô, President of the LGBT Center of Nice, the doubling from 2019 of the number of condoms made available via associations (from 5,000 to 10,000). Discussion groups between the associations and the staff of the night reception team will also be set up to improve the reception of transgender individuals or sex workers. “I wish for the reception of HIV-positive individuals in the retirement homes managed by the City to be exemplary in terms of humanity. Nice must be a pilot territory to launch in 2019 the sensitization of our retirement homes’ staff on this issue,” concluded Christian Estrosi. “I want a city that exemplifies solidarity and benevolence in terms of public health.”
