Aids, Gilead has been supporting people with HIV for 30 years

HIV has been frightening the world for forty years. In fact, it was 1981 when the human immunodeficiency virus was discovered: since then many things have changed, both at the therapeutic level and at the level of social impact. On the eve of the world day against AIDS, Gilead Science Italia retraces these forty years, during which battles have been fought and much has been achieved, but not enough. For this special edition of the day, Gilead Sciences Italia takes the field with various initiatives, using the language of art, cinema and technology, to tell the widest possible and varied audience how people live today with HIV. what has changed in recent years, how much still remains to be done to reach the final goal: finding a definitive cure. From a deadly disease, HIV has now become a chronic disease. Thanks to antiretroviral drugs and other treatments, the HIV-positive patient can live with the virus and keep it under control. Medicines also guarantee non-contagiousness, an essential element for experiencing intimacy and life with a partner with serenity. From a social point of view, however, ‘HIV’ and ‘Aids’ are words that still sew a stigma on those who suffer from it, among the people there is still the shadow of the prejudice related to the disease. The main weapon available to combat this way of thinking, made anachronistic by medical-scientific evolution, is the formation and dissemination of correct information about this condition, eliminating hostile words (such as ‘smearers’) and discriminatory ideas. (such as the belief that HIV only affects the homosexual community or uses drugs, nda) which are often addressed to HIV patients or used to indicate HIV-positive people. Over 120 thousand people with HIV live in Italy, of which about 18 thousand are unaware of the infection, the so-called submerged. This is why it is important to promote sensitivity to the issue of HIV, to stimulate institutions not to let their guard down, to continue investing so that innovations can be available to all those who need them, to ensure an ever better quality of life. Like every year, the community of patients, clinicians, institutions and companies who work daily to combat the disease and its consequences, wants to make themselves heard and draw attention to a less ‘current’ virus in the media but always present for many more, too many people. At the forefront is Gilead, which for the occasion has organized a rich calendar of projects created in collaboration with patient associations and which find their expression through art, cinema and technology, as explained by Cristina Le Grazie. , medical director of Gilead Italy: “As a company we are constantly engaged in HIV, 365 days a year. Gilead is a pioneer in the search for solutions against the virus and it can be said that it has actively contributed to transforming its history, from a deadly disease to chronic. But we don’t stop only at research. For over 30 years, in fact, we have made the integration and support of those living with the infection one of our fundamental objectives. We collaborate with institutions, patient associations and clinicians to prevent and limit the spread HIV. We take action every year to promote projects and awareness campaigns on the issue. This year we wanted to challenge ourselves, working on projects that draw on art, inema, to technology with the aim of reaching everyone .. at the cost of entering their homes “. Here are the main projects of the 2021 edition: 1. HIV through ‘digital’ art – ‘Together we can stop the virus’. The augmented reality exhibition on HIV will be open for free from 29 November to 5 December 2021 in Milan, at the Combo di Ripa di Porta Ticinese. The works on display are the result of the collaboration between representatives of patient associations and some artists which began in 2019. Rich in visual, emotional and conceptual identity, each of the works tells one of the various phases of the patient’s journey: Diagnosis, treatment, success of therapies , quality of life, stigma, HIV and Covid-19. Furthermore, for the 40th anniversary edition, the new works created by the young winners of the Call4Artists launched last year will be exhibited precisely to tell the 40th anniversary of HIV. The new works and their respective creators are: Flipper, by Raffaele Leaverrea; Let’s talk about it together, by Lisa Pizzato; Escape from the past, by Adam Tempesta; Love UU, by Giulia Tolino; That game called progress, by the Bolognese artistic duo Allegria Bulgaria. In these 40 years of HIV history a very important role is played by the patient associations who have experienced all the phases of the virus closely. “At the beginning we did not know what it was, it was an observation of cases of opportunistic infectious diseases, tumors, which were not normally present in a certain type of population. Then gradually it was discovered that all this was caused by a immunodeficiency caused by HIV. Until about ’96, people, in addition to experiencing severe discrimination due to infection, also experienced a serious health problem. We witnessed a real massacre in those years. the arrival of drugs gradually better tolerated and effective that have slowly led people with HIV to live a life like everyone else “, says Massimo Cernuschi, clinician and president of the ASA association in Milan. The Gilead Italia project has the patronage of Icar Italian Conference on Aids and Antiviral Research and 10 patient associations active at national level that have been working on the project for three years (Anlaids Onlus, Ala Milano Onlus, Arcobale no Odv, Asa Onlus, Circolo Mario Mieli, Lila Italian League for the fight against AIDS, Milan Check Point, Nps Italia Onlus, Nadir Onlus, Plus). By downloading the special Hiv Stop the virus app and framing the works, it is possible to see them come alive. For more information on the project www.hivstopthevirus.it. 2. The first TV series on HIV – Special ‘Invisible stigma’. On December 1st, ‘Invisible Stigma’ will be broadcast on the Discovery channel, the Special on HIV that tackles the disease through the testimonies of protagonists who every day not only live with the virus but also with a stigma that is often more present and difficult management and acceptance of the virus itself.The project was born thanks to the collaboration between Discovery and Gilead with the common goal of raising awareness on the issue of HIV in a way not yet tested in Italy. The special, of which Michela Chimenti is the creator and author, created by the Milanese production company Story Farm, directed by Alessandro Carlozzo and Luca Cepparo, is just a preview of a real TV series that will see the light in 2022. How difficult can it be to confess that you have HIV? Does anyone who discovers they have HIV have to quit with the love and desire of a family? Can an HIV-positive mother give birth to an HIV-negative child? Real people talk about these and many other themes, in a direct, new, exciting way, without filters and above all without self-pity. “Invisible stigma is a documentary that arises from the need to tell an almost forgotten story: that of HIV and of ‘Aids. Information based on fear and on the stigmatization of the positive remained stuck in the 80s and 90s, unlike today’s extraordinary therapies, which allow people with HIV + to stop being contagious. Because then, still today. In recent years, I have collected many stories, some of acceptance, liberation, others of immense pain. But what unites them all is always the same fear: that of being estranged from family, friends and by the partner for their serological status “, comments Michela Chimenti, creator and author of the special. “Invisible Stigma does not just want to inform, but forces the public to ask themselves a big question: 40 years have passed since the HIV virus was identified, how many more will it take to eliminate the stigma?”, Concludes Chimenti. 3. The HImoVie WebApp: everything you need to know about HIV and responsible sex on your smartphone. On 24 November the HImoVie channel was launched, the first thematic channel on HIV and responsible sex created in collaboration with the Arcobaleno Aids Odv and Anlaids associations. It is a webapp open to contributions from patient associations, where it is possible to find video pills of the theatrical show ‘Today we recite … HIV, interviews, narrative medicine workshops, cartoons’. The target audience includes teenagers, university students, the general population, HIV patients. But where does this need come from? “It stems from the desire to create information content on HIV and responsible sexuality that is easy to use, in step with the new entertainment platforms, with languages ​​that can intrigue even a young audience. This is why we thought of cartoons and short video clips. from the theatrical show. Along the way we hope that the platform will be enriched with new contributions to give those looking for information online the possibility of having a reliable point of reference “, say the representatives of the two associations Anlaids Lazio and Arcobaleno Aids Odv. visibility to the webapp, a special Adv campaign has been activated which will be visible on the main dating apps and beyond. For more information, you can consult the website https://www.himovie-informa.it/ and the social channels linked to the Facebook project @HImoVieinforma and IG himovie.informa.