2023-11-23 15:26:30
Yesterday – Today, November 23rd, the campaign was presented at a press conference in front of the Bolzano Hospital. The initiators are the South Tyrolean medical company, the Red Cross South Tyrol, Caritas, Centaurus Arcigay South Tyrol and the Propositiv South Tyrolean AIDS Help Association.
Goal of the campaign „Stop HIV!“ is to bring this topic, which has somewhat faded into the background during the pandemic years, back into focus. For this purpose, the Red Cross’s own mobile outpatient clinic, which is staffed by specialist staff from the South Tyrolean medical company and volunteers from participating partner organizations, will tour South Tyrol. At each stop, information on how to prevent HIV infection can be obtained, as well as what medications are currently available to treat this disease. If you want, you can also take a free HIV test.
Why this initiative?
“Stop HIV!” starts in time for World AIDS Day, which has been celebrated every December 1st since 1988.
In South Tyrol, 18 new cases of HIV were recorded in 2023, and in 2022 there were 11 cases (+61%). Nationwide, an incidence of 3.6 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants is recorded; in the rest of Italy this number is 3.2. Around 700 people in South Tyrol are currently infected.
Joseph Widmann, health director, has words of praise for this initiative: “This collaboration with social services is good evidence of our shared commitment to health and quality of life. HIV has not disappeared, but it can be pushed back with information and prevention. My heartfelt thanks go to the Red Cross, Caritas, Arcigay and the Propositiv association, who made this joint initiative possible.”
Elke Maria Erne, Primaria of the Department of Infectious Diseases and person responsible for the project: “Through this tour we can inform many people and also offer them a test. An infection with HIV is no longer a death sentence today because we have modern antiviral therapies that are very effective and – even if they cannot eradicate the virus – can keep it well under control.
Manuel Peacock, Chairman of the Red Cross South Tyrol, also confirms how important teamwork is in such cases: “The Red Cross has always been committed to prevention. We are happy to address this topic of sexually transmitted diseases together with the medical company and the associations involved that are concerned with the prevention of HIV. Thanks to the mobile outpatient clinic, we can offer testing options in many locations. I really hope that we can continue this collaboration in the future.”
Angela Pieri, specialist in infectious diseases at the Bolzano Hospital and responsible for the HIV outpatient clinic: “The successful fight once morest HIV is primarily due to modern research, which has resulted in effective antiviral therapies. However, it must be said that despite all the therapies, complete recovery is not possible, but a quality of life can be guaranteed that other, non-infected people also have.
Arianna Miriam Fiumefreddo, Chairwoman of the Centaurus Arcigay association: “The fight once morest HIV has become better thanks to modern means such as PrEp, pre-exposure prophylaxis. This, together with the use of condoms, represents good prevention because it can break the chain of infection.” Fiumefreddo also reminds you that the free rapid test can also be carried out anonymously and safely at the Propositiv Südtiroler AIDS-Hilfe association.
Pierpaolo Patrizi, psychologist and person in charge of the Iris project, a Caritas service that looks following infected people, emphasizes how important it is to avoid stigmatization: “We at Caritas take care of the Iris project, the Emmaus house and Platform 7 for 31 years around people with HIV. A lot has changed from a medical perspective, but there are still prejudices that make life more difficult for those infected.”
The stages and times of the tour can be found in the attached document.
RL/SF
1700782448
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