In France, nearly 150,000 people live with HIV, according to Sidaction, with around 30,000 unaware of their status. Each year, about 6,000 new cases are diagnosed.
To combat this, AIDES has launched a nationwide awareness campaign called 'Me, AIDS.' This viral initiative, starting online, humanizes the HIV virus to provoke discussion and action.
The campaign features a fictional Twitter persona, @lesida. As AIDES communication manager Antoine Henry told AFP, users receive notifications like 'AIDS is following you,' inviting direct engagement with the virus itself.
@lesida replies wittily and humorously to messages, challenging figures like Christine Boutin with tweets such as '@christineboutin hello #JeSuisLà!' Hashtags #JeSuisLà encourage interaction, while #ShutUp! lets users 'silence' it.
Beyond Twitter, the character appears on Facebook, Instagram, and Tinder, ready to converse. Upcoming posters will feature provocative slogans like 'I am neither racist nor homophobic - AIDS.'
AIDES produced a first-person video narrated by comedian Gaspard Proust as the virus, wandering Paris and declaring, 'I am a faithful friend but without the word friend,' to highlight transmission risks.
