Entrepreneurs for the most vulnerable
Health of minorities and combating discrimination
Health inequalities, which refer to unacceptable differences in health conditions between individuals or groups of individuals, could be largely avoided by tackling discrimination against minorities.
The health conditions of LGBTQI+ people are structurally worse than those of heterosexuals. Experiencing LGBTphobia has detrimental effects on their psychological well-being, sexual health and overall health. Other health issues are more specific: lesbians face difficulties in accessing gynaecological care, trans people face strong discrimination in accessing care overall.
As for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and hepatitis, sexual and gender minorities still suffer a heavy toll. Other minority groups (migrants and sex workers in particular) combine vulnerability factors that expose them to greater health risks, and stigmatisation keeps them from seeking prevention and care.
Groupe SOS is a long-standing player in the fight against HIV/AIDS and in LGBT+ health. It develops programmes and actions aimed at the groups most exposed to specific health risks. To do this, it harnesses the skills and experiential knowledge of the different communities to meet their specific health needs and challenges.
HIV Advocacy
The fight against HIV/AIDS will not be achieved without social progress matching the ambition of “ending HIV/AIDS by 2030”. LGBTQI+ people, migrants and refugees, sex workers and prostitutes, etc.: more than ever, combating inequalities in access to care and rights for the people most at risk of contracting the disease is essential. In its HIV Advocacy, Groupe SOS puts forward concrete proposals to move towards social change in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Arcat
Arcat is a long-standing non-profit organisation fighting against HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and discrimination. It offers multidisciplinary support to people suffering from precarious circumstances or exclusion, living with HIV or a related pathology, or particularly exposed to the risk of acquiring HIV, with the aim of increasing their autonomy and agency. The organisation also carries out health mediation activities by reaching out to key communities or ethnic groups (sub-Saharan African communities, Latin Americans, sex workers) to support their emancipation and empowerment in terms of health, both individually and collectively. Lastly, the organisation supports the development of work integration projects adapted to the condition of people with an invisible disability, or members of communities that are distant from the traditional offers of support for integration, such as sex workers and consumers of psychoactive substances.
Checkpoint
Both a CEGIDD (a centre for free information, screening and diagnosis) and a community-based sexual health centre, Checkpoint offers a comprehensive sexual health service dedicated to LGBTQI+ communities and sex workers, including express screening for HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs, as well as on-site treatment in case of a positive result, vaccination against hepatitis A and B and HPV, PrEP initiation and follow-up consultations, post-exposure treatment for HIV, and specialised consultations in addiction, psychiatry, gynaecology and hormone therapy. Checkpoint-Paris also carries out prevention, harm reduction and health promotion activities in LGBT community spaces, but also in schools or where people with multiple vulnerability factors live, such as young workers’ hostels, reception centres or emergency shelters for asylum seekers.
Altaïr
Altaïr manages reception and housing facilities with or without healthcare (ACT and CHRS) in Paris and Nanterre, including housing dedicated to sex workers in prostitution or in high-risk situations due to a combination of vulnerability factors. Its community-based approach enables it to develop responses adapted to the needs of these specific groups.