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Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

By The Global Fund

October 27^th, 2025

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Founded in 1996, CESAC was the very first HIV clinic in Mali — established by a group of young doctors with few resources, but an unshakable commitment to caring for people living with HIV and AIDS.

One of those doctors is Dr. Bintou Dembele.

“At the time, announcing AIDS was tantamount to announcing death,” says Dr. Bintou. “We were bare-handed. We had nothing, just a conviction that we were going to bring people what they needed.”

Dr. Dembele Bintou.

In a place where daily life is too often marked by hardship, CESAC – the Centre for Listening, Care, Activities and Advice – in Bamako is more than a health clinic. It is a sanctuary of lifesaving care, dignity and hope for thousands of people living with HIV in Mali.

CESAC is also a powerful example of what the Global Fund partnership has achieved– and a stark reminder of what could be lost as global health financing faces an uncertain future.

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

A pioneer in the fight against HIV, Dr. Bintou is now the Director General of ARCAD Santé PLUS, a long-standing partner of the Global Fund that has led CESAC’s operations from the beginning.

As she walks through CESAC’s courtyard, health workers and patients greet her warmly. People wait for consultations, laboratory tests and to collect their antiretroviral (ARV) medicines. Young women gather for talks on health and nutrition, and children gather for support groups. Women chat and laugh.

In a country where insecurity, internal displacement and hardship continue to impact millions of people’s lives, CESAC is a pillar of community health, strength and dignity – a place once defined by loss is now pulsing with life.

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Over the past two decades, Mali has made significant progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS. AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 60%, and treatment coverage has increased from just 5% in the early 2000s to 68% in 2024.

The Global Fund has financed all ARV therapy in Mali for the past two decades, and together with Unitaid, has dramatically reduced the cost of these lifesaving medications – from US $10,000 per person per year to as low as US$35 today – through innovation and strategic procurement.

Yet years of insecurity, extreme poverty and recurring crises continue to strain Mali’s health systems and drive the spread of disease.

Despite these enormous challenges – and with a clear understanding of how hard-won every inch of progress has been in the fight against AIDS – Dr. Bintou remains deeply optimistic.

Grandir Ensemble Communication and Advocacy Officer Fanta Conde speaks at an information session on self-esteem for children and young people living with HIV.

In a large room on CESAC’s second floor Fanta Conde leads an information session on self-esteem for approximately 30 children, all of whom are HIV-positive.

Fanta’s energy is infectious – this isn’t just a lesson, it’s her lived experience. Fanta first came to CESAC at 16 years old after testing positive for HIV.

“At first, I didn’t want to come. I didn’t want to live anymore. But after seeing other young people in my situation, I knew my fear could turn into strength,” she says.

Along with medical treatment, Fanta received counselling and participated in support groups. She quickly emerged as a leader among her peers and today, is communication and advocacy officer at Grandir Ensemble Mali, a partner organization of ARCAD Santé Plus and the Global Fund that advocates for the rights of children living with HIV in Mali. She is also studying to earn a master’s degree in project management and assessment.

“She was very motivated, very brave,” says Dr. Bintou.

Fanta says Dr. Bintou has been a source of inspiration. She feels a responsibility to continue their shared fight – which is far from over.

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Adolescent girls and young women in Mali remain especially vulnerable to HIV, facing a perfect storm of risk factors – gender inequality, child marriage, lack of access to education and health services – which often leave them without the tools or power to protect themselves.

Approximately half of pregnant women living with HIV in Mali still don’t have access to the treatment they need to protect their babies.

Today, ARCAD Santé PLUS runs CESAC and 7 other community clinics across Mali, providing integrated care for HIV, TB, and malaria. Building on Mali’s long tradition of community-led health care, the organization works alongside local and national authorities to strengthen health systems and make sure care reaches the people who need it most.

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

ARCAD Santé PLUS has further strengthened its commitment to comprehensive, community-based care by expanding its services which now include cervical and breast cancer screening, care for sexually transmitted infections and harm reduction services for people who use drugs.

And as a founding member of Coalition PLUS, an international network of community-based organizations fighting HIV and promoting human rights, ARCAD Santé PLUS collaborates and shares innovations, expertise, and training with peer-led organizations across Francophone Africa.

Dr. Bintou points to the promise of innovations like lenacapavir – a long-acting injectable for HIV prevention. In 2025, the Global Fund and partners signed an agreement to reach 2 million people with the breakthrough drug.

“It's true that these are difficult times, but I have hope,” says Dr. Bintou. “An AIDS-free generation is possible.”

Fanta shares that belief – and that responsibility. “I hope one day people will say, ‘yes, like Dr. Bintou, Fanta made a difference in the fight against HIV.”

Together, these women represent the power of leadership across generations – showing what is possible – and what’s at stake.

Dr. Bintou and Fanta: United Across Generations to End AIDS in Mali

Footnotes

By Melanie Sharpe. Photos by Vincent Becker. Special thanks to ARCAD Santé PLUS.

FootNotes

By Melanie Sharpe. Photos by Vincent Becker. Special thanks to ARCAD Santé PLUS.

© 2026 The Global Fund

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