Adnkronos Rome, June 13 (Adnkronos Salute) – The Arim Running Kiss, the heart-pounding relay race, returns to Milan on Tuesday, June 17, starting at 19 p.m. With a kiss, the baton is passed, prejudice is broken down, love and happiness are expressed. A race open to all: for those who run, for those who walk and, above all, for those who want to do good by supporting Anlaids Lombardia Ets.
Arim is a race around the Arena Civica in Milan, an occasion for celebration and music, a meeting and information event dedicated to well-being, prevention, a fundraiser to fight HIV and sexually transmitted infections thanks to Anlaids Lombardia. During the evening, space for awareness and information also through the offer of free HIV and HCV (hepatitis C) tests, as well as music and street food in collaboration with Ape Milano.
Arim – explains a note – is an opportunity to remember that, with still around 2.500 new diagnoses reported in 2023, an increase compared to previous years, HIV proves not to be a won battle, but still requires a lot of attention from institutions to improve adherence to prevention and therapies, both for those at risk and for those who suffer from it. Sexual transmission is the main vehicle of infection and the highest incidences concern in particular heterosexual men and women, who represent half of the infections, while the most affected age groups are between 25-39 years. This data underlines how the perception of risk has lowered in the young population. A major collective effort is needed to increasingly reach this target. Information, education, awareness, functional behaviors and antiretroviral drugs: these are the ingredients that today allow us to successfully prevent and control HIV infection.
"Arim – says Andrea Gori, president of Anlaids Lombardia and director of the Infectious Diseases Unit, Sacco Hospital, Milan – supports information, education and research. Science continues to progress and make progress to improve the treatment and prevention of HIV infection. Today we have oral therapies with a high genetic barrier, very effective and with high forgiveness. We also have long-acting formulations that significantly improve adherence to treatment, a fundamental requirement for containing the spread of the virus. These formulations will be increasingly available in the near future and can be used both to optimize treatment pathways for people living with HIV and to make prevention strategies more effective. The improvement of therapeutic adherence, with overcoming chronic daily therapy, represents a further step forward in improving the quality of life of HIV+ people, contributing to the reduction of stigma and allowing better coexistence with the infection, throughout life. At the same time, within HIV prevention programs, long-acting PrEP represents an extremely useful option. valid for all people for whom oral PrEP could be a difficult option and for whom we would have no alternative preventive strategies. Today, the fight against HIV requires increasingly personalized plans and interventions, also thanks to the mediation of the infectious disease specialist in a context that continually requires a multidisciplinary approach".
"Talking about HIV to young people means building awareness and a future - adds Alessandra Bandera, president of the Arim organizing committee and director of the Infectious Diseases Unit, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Milano - Putting the person and shared responsibility at the center is essential to stop HIV transmission through: access to testing, which opens the way to awareness; therapies that restore health and interrupt the chain of contagion; PrEP, which expands the freedom to choose safely; and a cultural change that makes inclusion stronger than stigma. Arim is much more than a race: it is a moment of community, culture and civil commitment. It is the voice of a generation that can really change things".
Arim – the promoters continue – is confirmed with the Running Kiss formula, because the kiss is one of the symbols of the fight against HIV, it represented the battle against stigma, as well as being a sign of closeness, love and happiness. The most famous kiss dates back to 1991, a time when discrimination and stigma were the norm: to demonstrate that the infection was not transmissible orally, the immunologist Fernando Aiuti kissed Rosaria Iardino, an activist and person with HIV. The photo of that kiss went around the world, breaking down prejudice and ignorance. Anlaids Lombardia is present in Arim with CareVan, the new mobile unit, a camper equipped and supplied with all comforts within easy reach, to be even more present and welcoming in prevention, especially through the offer of HIV and HCV tests, counseling and the dissemination of information, guaranteeing confidentiality as always. Anlaids, with the funds raised with the 2025 edition of Arim, will promote widespread awareness and information actions linked to an increasingly important approach to HIV and STI prevention, which includes all the devices available today, including PrEP in all its formulations.
To participate, you can register on the website www.aidsrunninginmusic.com. The race consists of running 4 laps of the Arena Civica; teams are made up of 4 participants (registered in groups or individually), and the baton is passed by giving each other a kiss. Participation in Arim is free (a donation to Anlaids Lombardia Ets is appreciated). Sponsors of the initiative ViiV Healthcare and Gilead Sciences Italia, in collaboration with Croce Rossa Milano, Monza Marathon Team, Fondazione Bullone.