Maggie De Block is the Minister of Social Affairs and Health since 2014. Under her mandate, a lot of progress has been made regarding HIV and AIDS.
Belgium is one of the countries that understood – and still does - the needs of HIV patients and the problems they are facing, such as stigma and discrimination or having access to treatment. Therefore, the political authorities decided to be their voice and over the past 5 years, they made it possible for HIV positive individuals to get immediate access to drugs, they introduced self-tests in 2016, and they also founded HIV Centers where people could have anonymous HIV testing.
One of the greatest accomplishments was creating the Positive Council, which is composed of HIV positive people that know the subject intimately, and they advise the Government on what measures should be taken and what the policy of HIV should be.
So, listen to Episode 13 of Positively Alive, to learn about the progress that has been made, and what is still needed to be done to get closer to the world’s common goal of eradicating the HIV epidemic.
Some Questions I ask:
- Could you please give an overview of what you believe are your major milestones since you took office in 2014? (03:30)
- What do you consider are the main challenges ahead? (07:10)
- How hopeful are you to find a cure? (08:17)
- Where would you position Belgium as a player, internationally, in the research towards finding a cure for HIV? (09:47)
- What does the future hold for you? (24:36)
In this episode, you will learn:
- Her opinion on the debate regarding whether we’re close or not to end the epidemic of HIV. (12:04)
- The correlation between lower HIV infections and the increase of other sexually transmitted diseases like Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and Chlamydia. (13:15)
- Her opinion on adding the fourth 90% - the mental wellbeing – into the 90-90-90 objective. (15:29)
- About the stigma on HIV according to the Minister. (17:45)
- About the significance of U=U in the wider context of HIV in Belgium. (21:42)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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