HIV: investing in awareness and rapid testing to promote early diagnosis

According to the latest available data, the number of new HIV diagnoses in Italy remained stable between 2023 and 2024, with 2,507 and 2,379 cases respectively. In 2024, half of those diagnosed took the test because of symptoms or related illnesses, while one fifth did so after having had unprotected or high-risk sexual intercourse.¹ What is particularly concerning, however, is the incidence of late diagnoses, which in 2024 accounted for 59.9% of new cases (compared to 54.4% in 2015)² and as many as two thirds of those cases involved individuals with severe immunodeficiency. Furthermore, of the 450 new AIDS diagnoses recorded in 2024, 84% concerned people who were unaware that they had an HIV infection.³

HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an infection that attacks and destroys a specific type of white blood cell (CD4 lymphocytes) responsible for the body’s immune response; consequently, having an HIV infection weakens the immune system, making it unable to effectively fight off other bacteria or viruses. Closely linked to HIV is AIDS which, as emphasized by the Italian Ministry of Health, represents an advanced clinical stage of HIV infection that may develop several years after contracting the virus.⁴ Naturally, the later an HIV diagnosis is made, the greater the likelihood that AIDS may develop in severe forms.

For this reason, it is essential to expand access to rapid HIV testing, for example in emergency rooms or medical practices. The goal is to identify infections early and therefore allow people to access treatment as soon as possible. As explained by Luca Butini, president of ANLAIDS, “The test is reliable, accurate, and rarely wrong; it can be purchased in pharmacies or online, but the objective is to ensure that it is distributed in community-based settings—therefore not hospitals or laboratories (places often perceived as judgmental by people taking the test)—and consequently in more private contexts and at more accessible times.”

“However, alongside the test itself, there must also be information and guidance on what to do if the rapid test result is not negative. In these cases, people need to be supported—both physically and emotionally—in confirming the diagnosis through further examinations because, for example, false positives also exist and can be ruled out with additional testing.”

But why is HIV/AIDS and prevention talked about so little today?

The stigma surrounding HIV
Unfortunately, even today there is still little awareness about the issue, especially among younger people and students who, in the absence of comprehensive sex and relationship education in schools addressing sexually transmitted infections (STIs), often seek information online (57% of cases), but also through parents (46%), friends (42%), and scientific manuals (22%).⁵ And yet, the hours dedicated to sex and relationship education could provide opportunities to speak openly and without embarrassment about HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs): it is enough to consider that 82% of adolescents have never taken an HIV test (currently, Italian law states that minors can undergo an HIV test only with parental consent).

“Young people are generally less judgmental than older generations. In fact, when we at ANLAIDS visit schools to raise awareness, we always encourage students to tell their parents what they have learned, because fear often persists precisely among adults. This fear, together with the lack of accurate information, can still influence attitudes toward testing and toward people living with HIV. It is especially important to reach young people with correct information because I am convinced they can become an extraordinary force in breaking down stigma,” explained Dr. Luca Butini.

It is precisely stigma and shame surrounding the virus and AIDS that hinder early diagnosis (and therefore access to treatment) and contribute to the psychological distress experienced by patients who, in some cases, face judgment and social isolation, resulting in feelings of fear, sadness, and anger.⁶ But where does stigma come from?

“Stigma emerges from the very beginning: we are in the 1980s, long before the spread of the first reliable information. At the time, HIV/AIDS was discussed with reference only to certain social groups, the so-called ‘at-risk categories,’ a term that contributed to stigmatization and the creation of this enormous divide: ‘I don’t belong to that category, so this doesn’t concern me,’ people thought,” explained Dr. Luca Butini. “Furthermore, these categories mainly included ‘men who had sex with other men’ and people who used the same syringes to take heroin, so there was a strong reluctance to be associated with these behaviors.”

“Prejudice, together with poor information, hinders the spread of what is summarized by U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable, meaning Non-detectable = Non-transmittable), namely the certainty that a person living with HIV who is on treatment and has an undetectable viral load (which is the case in 95% of instances) does not transmit the virus, even without a condom,” explained Dr. Butini.

Therefore, raising awareness and spreading accurate and precise information becomes a fundamental mission in order to break down preconceptions about HIV. “In part, fear seems to have decreased. I’ll give a concrete example: at the opening of the itinerant Habitus exhibition by ANLAIDS in the main square of Jesi, there was a van from an association offering rapid HIV testing, and there were long queues of people waiting for their turn. Imagine the same situation 10 or 15 years ago: because of stigma, that square would have been empty. Something is changing in this regard, also thanks to a more balanced approach to information that is not based exclusively on fear—a feeling that, in the early years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, was a consequence of limited knowledge and the impact of deaths.”

1.  Data from the National Institute of Health (november 2025). ↩︎
2.  National Institute of Health Bullettin (november 2025). ↩︎
3. Data from ANLAIDS – Associazione Nazionale per la lotta all’AIDS included in the press release 40 anni ANLAIDS: test rapidi HIV nei pronto soccorso e negli studi medici di medicina generale (november 2025). ↩︎
4.  Definitions taken from the Italian Ministry of Health website. ↩︎
5. Article Facciamolo in classe: parliamo di educazione sessuo-affettiva, Save the Children (february 2025). ↩︎
6. AIDS e stigma sociale: come nascono paure, convinzioni sbagliate e come superarle IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele (december 2025). ↩︎

In the photograph: the kiss between Fernando Aiuti (one of the founders of ANLAIDS) and Rosaria Iardino (journalist and expert in civil rights and health policy, now president of Fondazione The Bridge and a woman living with HIV) has become a symbol of the fight against stigma towards people with AIDS (credits: ANLAIDS).