Ending the stigma of HIV, the first step to eradicating the disease

Currently, in our country, 92.5% of people living with HIV know their diagnosis of infection.

In the first call for Visionarium, by Gilead and ESADE, three projects have been awarded to “promote research and entrepreneurship in HIV”

According to calculations UNAIDSthe United Nations program on HIV AIDSbetween 160,000 and 170,000 people in Spain live with the Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). And the most worrying thing is that it is estimated that 7.5% of them are still undiagnosed.

Precisely, HIV has been the central axis of the first call for Visionariumthe first Innovation Hub promoted by biopharmaceuticals Gilead in collaboration with the Esade Entrepreneurship Institute (ISS).

And the three award-winning projects, which will receive an injection of 60,000 euros, are:

• Bridge
• BiosCAN
• Imagine Meta Empowerment.

In this first edition, 24 projects have been presented with which “to offer answers to each of the areas that we have always set for ourselves and are also the challenges proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO),” he explains to this newspaper. Pau Arbos, director of the HIV business unit at Gilead Spain.

These categories are:

• HIV prevention, diagnosis and referral
• The person with HIV
• the quality of HIV care.

AND Jorge Garridoexecutive director of Apoyo Positivo, in conversation with ‘Health Guides’ clarifies that:

• “Until we end the stigma, we will not end HIV.”

Eliminate the stigma of HIV testing

Bridge has been the proposal chosen in the first category of the first call for Visionarium.

Through a intuitive, secure and anonymous applicationusers will be able to have access to tests, information and advice medical.

And all this, without the need to reveal your identity. The project promoters emphasize that:

• “Through this project It is expected to increase HIV diagnostic testing facilitating access in an environment of comfort, privacy and security and thus eliminating the existing hidden infection.

Diagnosis is one of the main obstacles of this disease, as highlighted by the doctor Jesus Troyaspecialist in internal medicine at the Infanta Leonor University Hospital in Madrid and one of the members of the jury.

• “Currently, in our country, 92.5% of people living with HIV know their HIV diagnosis. infection and 96.6% are receiving antiretroviral treatment”.
• However, “50% of diagnoses are late and they arrive at the consultation with him immune system really deteriorated”.

Reduce the incidence of anal cancer

In the second category, the person with HIV, the project chosen was BioScan.

This is an initiative that will allow the development of a Accurate diagnostic tool capable of improving the identification of anal precancerous lesions.

This would help reduce the incidence of anal cancera serious illness and with a high incidence in people with HIV. This development is based on the knowledge achieved about the role of the microbiome in the previous phase of the investigation.

Improve the quality of patient care

Once they have been diagnosed and patients go for consultation, they encounter another obstacle in their path: lack of information.

For this reason, the third winning project, within the HIV care quality category, was Imagina Goal Empowermentwhich proposes the creation of the ImaginaMORE virtual headquarters to become an environment of knowledge and empowerment of people living with HIV.

He Dr. Adriá Currana specialist in the infectious disease service at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, ​​highlights that doctors face the “aging” from the patients and even increase in comorbiditiesthat is, two or more diseases at the same time.

From there, the need to train specialists to “reinforce the role as active and informed patients in their health care and in making decisions about their health.”

And it is that, the aspects psychologicalbehavioral and social infection they influence “their long-term health outcomes.”

He Visionarium project for the improvement of HIV patients It has been endorsed by the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), by the AIDS Study Group (GESIDA); the Spanish Society of Spanish Interdisciplinary AIDS Society (SEISIDA), the Spanish AIDS Research Network (RIS), and the State Coordinator of HIV and AIDS (CESIDA).