Barely 27 percent of Guineans living with HIV are receiving antiretroviral treatment (ARVs), which explains the high death rate among people with AIDS and further reinforces the perception of the disease as a death sentence. The low prevalence of HIV (1.7 percent of the population is infected) also means that very few people know about the disease and that people living with HIV face stifling stigmatisation, which further limits their treatment.

The limited HIV testing and treatment services that exist in Guinea remain highly concentrated in main cities with patients travelling long, expensive distances. On top of this, people living with HIV face crippling out-of-pocket payments for additional tests and treatment, which means many people simply decide to do without.

MSF and non-MSF patient experts and medical, psychosocial staff in Conakry are interviewed on the many barriers that stand between a person living with HIV and lifelong treatment, and what needs to happen to increase the number of people living with HIV on treatment.