The VaccinaMILAN* project – Free vaccination to fight anal cancer and other related HPV tumors – returns to the Lombardy capital. Tonight from 6pm to 11pm in Via Lecco-Largo Bellintani (Porta Venezia area) it will be possible to get vaccinated against HPV for free. VaccinaMILAN* is a public health initiative that uses a “non-canonical” enrollment strategy, and has managed to reach people in target populations by physically bringing healthcare to the public.
Prevention takes the field
The immunization is aimed at gay and bisexual men, trans people and women and men sex workers. The first edition was a great success with 180 vaccinations carried out in just 3 hours in the Milanese nightlife area last October. It is part of the One Healthon national project which aims to promote prevention, research, innovation and correct communication and more generally a new culture of health.“We want to encourage cancer prevention among target people who may be the most exposed to the risk of infection – he underlines Nicla La Verde, director of Oncology at the Sacco Hospital in Milan and creator of the event. “The HPV virus causes over 5,000 tumors per year in Italy, including the vast majority of cases of anal carcinoma and a third of those of the oropharynx, in addition to the more well-known carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Both men and women can contract the virus, which is in fact the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide. In the vast majority of cases the pathogen remains silent without causing any damage. Other times, however, it increases the possibility of the onset of certain tumors.”
Tumors, towards a personalized and active prevention model by Tiziana Moriconi 10 April 2024
Vaccination rates still low
“We wish to inform and involve the LGBTQIA+ community in our work to raise awareness on the topic of cancer prevention – continues the professor Rossana Berardi, Professor of Oncology at the Polytechnic University of Marche and President of One Health Foundation. Italy was one of the first countries to ensure free vaccination against a very dangerous oncogenic virus to young people. However, we find that immunization rates are still low especially among adolescent males.”
Male cancers, prevention “travels” by train by Dario Rubino 16 April 2024
A ‘team’ for prevention
The Milan event sees the collaboration with the staff of the Oncology department and the Infectious Diseases department (Prof. Andrea Gori and Dr. Davide Moschese) of the Luigi Sacco Hospital – University Center and of Milan Checkpoint ETS, a space dedicated to health sexual activity and the prevention of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections, rooted in the territory for years with daily work with the target population and with the support of Anlaids Lombardia ETS (association created with the aim of stopping the spread of the HIV virus and AIDS) and its volunteers. “Prevention at all levels and for all citizens is a priority activity on which we work daily – he declared Maria Grazia Colombo, General Director of Asst Fatebenefratelli Sacco. Reaching people outside our structures in synergy with associations and other institutions means building networks and offering local care and assistance”. The participation of LGBTQIA+ people’s associations is essential to spread information on the role of the vaccine, to speak an equal and effective language and then to involve people who can benefit from it, with a view to community health.
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