The arrival of effective therapies has broadened the life prospects of people with HIV. “The disease has changed, it can become chronic and not transmitted”, but many do not know it and “vulnerabilities remain”. This was said by Giovanni Guaraldi, full professor of infectious diseases at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and director of the HIV metabolic clinic of the Modena University Polyclinic, speaking today at the webinar “The needs of people with HIV”. This is the first of a new series of live broadcasts from the project ‘Let’s talk about HIV today. To look to tomorrow’, promoted by Adnkronos, in collaboration with ViiV Healthcare and available on the publishing group’s web and social channels. This journey into the world of HIV in our country, thanks to the discussion between experts, clinicians and patients, tells the clinical and social evolution of the disease and invites us to look, with confidence, to a more aware tomorrow, beyond the stigma.
The first vulnerability “concerns the delay in diagnosis – continues Guaraldi – In 50% of cases it arrives when there is already immunological damage which will affect the acceleration of the aging process” and the chronic diseases associated with it. “Then there is a problem of social stigma, or rather, of self-stigma, a sense of guilt, even personal, towards the disease”. From a clinical point of view, “today people on effective antiretroviral therapy have a suppressed viral load and are no longer able to transmit the infection, but this scientific certainty is not known to many doctors and many people with HIV”. Furthermore, “a therapy is available in Italy – adds Guaraldi – which is administered every 2 months intramuscularly, but in the future there will be long acting oral treatments to be taken every 15 days, intramuscular with longer spacing or gastric or subcutaneous devices that could have administrations comparable to those of a vaccine”.
On access to treatment, Roberto Rossotti, infectious disease specialist at the Niguarda hospital in Milan, observes that “people with HIV are subjected to more intense visits and tests due to the presence of various pathologies also due to ageing. Being able to offer the right treatment to these more fragile people, with a multidisciplinary approach, becomes difficult due to the condition of the healthcare system, simply due to the long waiting lists. Then in the case of social fragility, there is a need for support during insertion, for example, at work that becomes more difficult for these people.” Looking at the aspect of stigma, “we need to put our face to it and educate not only those who have the pathology, but also society. Doctors are on the clinical side, but associations can do a great job in this regard to dismantle prejudices. Knowing that you are no longer contagious is incontrovertible and is a help in coming out.”
Representing Milan Check Point Ets, a reality recently born from the union of 5 associations and a place to take care of sexual health, the coordinator, Daniele Calzavara underlines that the needs are different. “There are people with HIV who have just received the diagnosis – he explains – and others who have a long history of 20-30 years of HIV, of co-morbidities, therefore other pathologies which are also part of the aging process which make these people are fragile. Today, people with HIV may not transmit the virus: this is a promise for those with HIV and in perspective. However – he reiterates – this is not enough for those who have a long history of HIV because they have other pathologies”. Meanwhile, in these days “with all the Italian associations – recalls Calzavara – for the first time we are launching the ‘U=U impossible to make mistakes’ campaign – undetectable = untransmittable – to ask people” with HIV and non-HIV “to be allies and ambassadors of this message which can break down stigma and discrimination”.
#AIDS #experts #HIV #chronic #nontransmissible