The effectiveness of new drug regimens has drawn attention to the issue of delayed access to care among HIV-positive individuals. This research, conducted as part of ANRS programs, aims to explain this delayed access from the patient’s perspective by examining how their access to care relates to their social circumstances and social network. The RETARD survey was conducted among 267 HIV-positive individuals who began regular hospital follow-up between October 1, 1997, and October 1, 2003, and whose CD4 count was below 350/mm³. The study population is characterized by a high proportion of men and a significant number of individuals born abroad, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. The study shows that delayed access to care is synonymous with delayed access to screening. Among the various forms of delayed access, two profiles emerge: the first involves men infected through homosexual relations who were born in France and are integrated into social and professional networks; the second involves women born in sub-Saharan Africa living in situations of economic and social precariousness. While these profiles do not represent the entire study population, they represent its extremes. The analysis focuses on social and relational profiles from which recommendations for public intervention are formulated. (R.A.)