Gilead Sciences’ attention to HIV and AIDS and its commitment to fighting them “were born in 1987, when people were dying of AIDS on the streets of San Francisco. Consequently, our commitment to fighting and defeating this epidemic was born many years ago. We transformed this infection from a fatal disease to a chronic infection, thanks to therapies that were in a single small pill, when previously at least 30 had to be taken a day. This was the first major transformation.” Gemma Saccomanni, Senior Director Public Affairs of Gilead Sciences said this on the occasion of the ‘Hiv. Let’s talk about it again!’, a moment of discussion and sharing to talk about therapeutic adherence, U=U and resistance promoted by Gilead Sciences on the occasion of the Icar Congress.
“In the meantime we have prepared new therapies, which allow the patient to live a life comparable to that of a healthy person – adds Saccomanni – Furthermore, new formulations of drugs are arriving which are increasingly moving towards a reduction in intake, i.e. formulations which they can only be taken twice a year, even if for us the final objective remains and will remain the cure”.
The “scientific progress achieved so far must go hand in hand with the progress in reducing the stigma towards this disease – underlines Saccomanni – Knowledge is needed, because unfortunately HIV is not talked about enough in Italy, but even patients are not talkative enough with their doctors don’t ask enough information about their health and, for example, about the resistance they may develop to drugs and about the other side effects they may be experiencing with the therapies campaign that wants to promote this dialogue, to ensure that every patient feels able to control their health, to ask the right questions of their doctor and understand if the therapy they are following is the right one for you”. Today, “thanks to new therapies, the quality of life of patients has significantly improved. Indeed, a person living with HIV today has a quality of life comparable to that of a person who does not have this infection. Clearly we are still talking about a chronic disease. Often, especially younger children, underestimate the danger of contracting HIV and it is for this reason that, even today, every year in Italy we have around 2000 new diagnoses” he concludes.
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