PILS - Prévention Information et Lutte contre le Sida

Community Health Services

In 2009, PILS, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life, launched a health caravan traveling across the island, offering HIV testing and primary care. In 2011, we established a clinic providing medical consultations and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

Over time, PILS has strengthened its community health systems through a unit offering various services, including community and non-medical HIV testing (allowing non-medical staff like peer educators to conduct rapid HIV tests and counselling), guidance to care services, therapeutic education, primary care, fieldwork, outreach to patients lost to follow-up, and self-support groups.

Advocacy

Advocacy involves influencing decision-makers and public opinion to evolve public policies. This influence can be achieved through meetings with policymakers and other influential individuals, structured work with the media, and public campaigns, among other methods. For PILS, the goal is to change certain health policies for better national management of HIV and viral hepatitis.

Advocacy is a core part of PILS' mission and a significant component of the association’s work. We strive to influence laws, policies, and practices impacting populations most at risk for HIV and viral hepatitis, including drug users, sex workers, and men who have sex with men. Laws that criminalise these groups and inadequate services hinder an effective national response to HIV and Hepatitis C.

Indian Ocean Capacity Building Platform

In 2014, PILS established its capacity-building department and, through the "Transfert" programme of the AIDES association, created the Indian Ocean Platform (PFOI). PFOI brings together community-based organisations fighting HIV/Hepatitis/STIs in Mauritius, Rodrigues, Madagascar, Seychelles, and Comoros, acting as a regional capacity-building platform. To ensure comprehensive representation of HIV/AIDS issues in the region, Reunion Island and Mayotte are also part of the Steering Committee, although they do not directly benefit from PFOI programmes.

The main objective of this platform is to involve civil society in the comprehensive care of high-risk populations and people living with HIV/hepatitis/STIs. PFOI conducts training activities, workshops, technical support, and expertise exchanges to transfer skills in areas such as advocacy, strategy implementation, project management, fundraising, financial management, good governance, community health approaches, access to treatment, resource mobilisation, and the socio-economic aspects of the fight against HIV.

Programme Management

The Programme Management unit encompasses various functions (such as monitoring and evaluation, fundraising, finance, and administration) responsible for managing funds allocated to the association by our local and international donors and supporting the implementation of our programmes.

PILS was founded in 1996 by Nicolas Ritter in a context of total denial about AIDS in Mauritius. At that time, there was no real social or medical support structure for people living with HIV, even as effective treatment combinations were emerging in the United States and Europe.

In its early days, PILS was essentially a group of friends and family members united by a common vision for Mauritius. Their goal was to break the silence around HIV & AIDS and provide Mauritians living with HIV with a better quality of life, ensuring adequate access to treatment and care without stigma and discrimination.

From its inception, the association focused on disseminating information, supporting those affected by HIV, prevention, and advocacy, while being acutely aware of the urgent need for a medical support structure for those living with HIV.

With the support of the local press, PILS succeeded in placing HIV at the centre of political and medical concerns in the country. Unsure where to turn, a few HIV-positive individuals immediately contacted PILS. With support from the Réunion-based association RIVE (Réunion Immunodéprimé Vivre et Ecouter), PILS established an emergency medical bridge to save lives. The medical follow-up and support for these HIV-positive individuals were then provided by PILS volunteers, including a volunteer doctor, Dr Joy Backory.

Gradually, the need to reduce transmission rates among people who inject drugs became crucial. Thanks to PILS' advocacy and perseverance, the Mauritian government made all treatments for HIV-positive individuals free of charge as part of its health policy (antiretrovirals, treatments for opportunistic infections, CD4 analyses, etc.) and established a consultation centre for HIV-positive individuals, the National Day Care Centre for Immunosuppressed (NDCCI).

Today, PILS is a key player in the fight against AIDS and viral hepatitis. Through its partnerships and experience, PILS has developed into a more structured, better-trained, and better-prepared team, forming an integral part of a decidedly strengthened national response. PILS works alongside the local government, the private sector, its civil society partners, and its regional and international partners.

The vision of PILS is to create a Mauritian society free from the harmful impact of HIV and AIDS. We believe this can be achieved through a civil society-led response at both national and regional levels. Our approach is rooted in the community and is based on the protection of human rights, while also empowering the key populations most at risk to take an active role in the response.

• 1999: Mauritius acquires antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, initially only to prevent mother-to-child transmission or for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) following accidental blood exposure.
• 2002: Free ARV treatment is made available to all individuals living with HIV.
• 2006: The civil society leads the first advocacy actions around the needle exchange and methadone programmes, initiating illegal needle exchanges. The same year, the HIV&AIDS Act is passed, eliminating the segregation of prisoners.
• 2006-2007: The Ministry of Health and Quality of Life supports risk reduction programmes, including methadone substitution treatment and needle exchange programmes.
• 2008: The Civil Status Act is amended to allow marriage between a foreigner living with HIV and a Mauritian citizen.
• 2014: Training for HIV testing is opened to NGOs, initiating the development of community-based and non-medicalised testing in Mauritius.
• 2017: After a two-year suspension of the methadone programme by authorities, the Ministry reinstates the programme following vigorous advocacy from the civil society.

At the end of 2016, the sources of funding for PILS were distributed as follows:

• Global Fund: 44%
• Other International Donors: 43%
• Government: 4%
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): 4%
• Donations: 4%
• Fundraising, Individual Donations, and Bank Interests: 1%