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More than 30,000 people in Italy do not know they are HIV positive and do not access treatment. In 2021 alone, the proportion of people newly diagnosed with AIDS who ignored their HIV status and discovered they were positive in the six months preceding the diagnosis of AIDS increased, going from 80.8% in 2020 to 83% in 2021. the silence also in the media around the virus and the consequent under-dimensioning of the risk especially among the very young. This is why Anlaids Lazio has decided to launch a new fundraising campaign to finance HIV prevention activities – starting with schools – as well as the fight against AIDS and support for people with HIV.
The silence around the virus and the risks for the very young
To date, HIV cannot be cured, but there are therapies that allow many people who have contracted the virus to live a full and long life, with expectations equal to that of anyone else. The scarce media attention to the infection has contributed to the circulation of incorrect information, especially among young and very young people, and to an under-dimensioning of the risk of transmission of the virus and of the consequences of contracting it. Silence around the virus entails, in the first place , experiencing unprotected sexual intercourse, especially by boys, and an unwillingness to resort to testing. In this context, Anlaids Lazio confirms itself as a point of reference for those who want access to tests, receive clear information on the subject and support against infection. Stigma and discrimination are in fact still today one of the biggest challenges for people living with the infection.
The initiatives: from schools to saliva tests to the psychologist
There are several initiatives that Anlaids Lazio wants to carry out in the coming months. First of all there is in particular the “Schools Project”, the education, information and prevention campaign aimed at the Second Level Secondary Schools of the Lazio Region aimed at carrying out targeted meetings by a qualified team and which during the school year which is coming to an end has involved 10,300 students and 54 schools in Rome, Latina and Viterbo. Not only that, the funds will be used to carry out various activities carried out together with the Lazzaro Spallanzani Institute in Rome, such as the “Let’s do it quickly” project, which has set up a consultancy service for access to the salivary test directly at the Anlaids Lazio, or the “Prevention & Listening” plan for a psychological space aimed at people diagnosed with HIV.
The Charity dinner is back to relaunch fundraising
Precisely to relaunch the crucial fundraising to support the new initiatives, this Thursday in Rome in the splendid monumental complex of the Baths of Diocletian, a Charity Dinner is scheduled, a gala evening to support the activities of the National Association for the fight against AIDS with the special participation of the singer Emma Marrone, who has always been close to social issues, together with other artists. Among the first confirmed names there are well-known faces such as Alessandro Preziosi, Riccardo Scamarcio, Claudia Gerini, Carlotta Antonelli, Giulia Bevilacqua, Sara Felerbaum, Coco Rebecca Edogamhe, Valeria Golino, Valeria Bilello and many others. The Gala Anlaids Lazio therefore returns to Rome after four years with the clear objective of raising awareness of HIV with ad hoc communication campaigns and to support the Association in the concrete implementation of activities in the area