Since over 31 percent of French people never use a condom during sexual intercourse, education and prevention remain of the utmost importance to curb the spread of the pandemic. Screening and early detection are almost equally crucial in the fight against AIDS. In 2019, more than 27,000 self-test kits were sold in Île-de-France alone. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was made available in France and reimbursed by social security for people at higher risk of contracting the virus in 2016. Since then, the number of people using the antiretroviral drug Truvada or one of its generics has risen to more than 15,000 during the first half of 2019, from which 97 percent of users are men.
HIV/AIDS represents a significant cost in government spending, and notably in research. In 2019, French social security declared a total expenditure of 1.21 billion euros. The vast majority of expenses are dedicated to ambulatory care and nearly all of the money is invested in drugs and medicine.
