For over 16 years, the EASY Test program has played a crucial role in Milan in increasing access to HIV testing outside the hospital environment. The project, developed in collaboration between the Infectious Diseases Unit of the San Raffaele Hospital, the Italian Diagnostic Center, the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Center of the ATS Metropolitan City and ANLAIDS – Lombardy, with the patronage of the Municipality of Milan, involves the offer of rapid response saliva tests for HIV anonymously and free of charge and resumes for 2024 with monthly appointments at the offices of the Italian Diagnostic Center in via Saint Bon, Bicocca (via Temolo 3), Legnano (Corso Italia 32), Cernusco (via Torino 8) e Varese (via Sacco 8), as well as allSan Raffaele Hospital and Raf Points.
The next appointment is scheduled for May 10th at the CDI offices, from 10.30am to 12pm (with saliva test for HIV and HCV) and at the San Raffaele sampling point in via Spallanzani 15, from 12pm to 6pm (with fingerstick HIV test). No reservation is required.
The numbers of EASY TEST
Overall, from 2008 to 2022 shave been carried out 22,186 rapid HIV tests, with a stable trend and a partial reduction in 2020, linked to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic which also caused a global reduction in access to HIV screening and therapies. THE tests were carried out both during monthly appointments and during public events, with a median number of 85 users per day.
More men take the test – 75% of users, with an average age of 40 which drops to 35 among women. During public events, 65% of people approached HIV testing for the first time, while during monthly appointments 20% were repeat users. Overall, 99.9% of users expressed a good level of satisfaction with the program and said they would recommend a friend to take the rapid, anonymous HIV test. In 116 people HIV infection was detected and confirmed with a standard blood test: all were effectively linked to treatment.
«The results that the working group has collected and published from this long EASY TEST experience indicate this a prevalence of HIV infection of 0.52%, with 100% of diagnosed people connected to care within 24 hours: expanding access to the test by taking it outside the hospital, to locations closer to citizens such as diagnostic centers and outpatient clinics and offering rapid and free tests has proven to be an effective test-and-treat strategy. The local approach, the so-called “point-of-care” allows you to involve different populations, even those at low risk of HIV infection: more personalized access to HIV prevention which helps to overcome the stigma associated with sexually transmitted diseases, mistakenly considered to be the prerogative of only specific segments of the population” he explains Fulvio Ferrara, director of the Integrated Laboratory Medicine Service of the Italian Diagnostic Center.
«The World Health Organization has set the ambitious goal “90-90-90” to end the HIV epidemic by 2030: it is therefore a question of diagnosing 90% of all HIV cases, ensuring at least 90% of all diagnosed people have access to antiretroviral therapies and ensuring that 90% of them achieve viral load suppression. The hidden proportion of undiagnosed HIV infections in Italy is decreasing but still needs to be considered, highlighting the priority of overcoming unawareness and promoting easy access to testing, which can ensure rapid linkage to care, rapid confirmation and staging of HIV infections, as well as access to the information needed to start treatment” concludes Antonella Castagna, phead of Infectious Diseases at the IRCCS San Raffale Hospital and professor of Infectious Diseases at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University of Milan.
Dates until the end of 2024 and EasyTest+ locations
