{
  "abstract": "Background To achieve the Continuum of Care (CoC) targets proposed by Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (95-95-95) in Italy, it is not possible to rely only on HIV/AIDS Italian surveillance systems which can only produce estimates, but are unable to provide complete information on people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) currently in care and on their clinical characteristics. To fill this gap, the CARPHA3 study (Characteristics of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in Italy), now in its 3rd edition, has been underway and will be able to produce update data on PLWHA currently living in Italy and their characteristics.Material and Methods The CARPHA3 study involves all active Public Infectious Diseases Clinical Units (PIDC) in Italy. During the initial phase of the study, we identified and verified all PIDCs providing care to PLWHA in 2024. A standardized data collection form was created to collect information on the aggregated number of PLWHA in care in 2024, those receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) and those newly HIV diagnosed cases in 2024, as well as selected key demographic and clinical characteristics (i.e. sex, age, nationality, mode of transmission, CD4 cell count, viral load). A dedicated and secure web-based platform was specifically developed in Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) to collect required data, and each center was granted access to the platform (through credentials sent via e-mail starting from Oct 2025) and complete data collection (planned to be completed within Apr 2026).Results Overall, 167 PIDCs active in 2024 were initially identified and invited to participate. Data collection is still ongoing and here we present the preliminary results of this investigation. Seventeen PIDCs (10.2%) declined to participate but contributed to the project providing the total number of PLWHA and the proportion of those in ART (10/17 already providing the data). The remaining 150 PIDCs (89.8%) have been granted access to the dedicated platform, and of these 103 (68.7%) accessed already the platform and started to complete data collection and completed by 71 (68.9%) ( figure 1). Overall considering PIDCs that already completed the data collection (n=71) adding data from ten PIDCs who declined, aggregated data from 58723 PLWHA were collected, which represent 41.2% of 142.5k individuals to be reached considering the last available estimation of the number of PLWHA with known infection in 2024 provided by ISS. Main characteristics of PLWHA from available data are shown in figure 2.Conclusions Here we represent preliminary results from the ongoing CARPHA3 project, which will allow Italy to provide a real and comprehensive prevalence estimate for the country, rather than one based solely on estimates, useful for comparing national with other European and International countries participating in monitoring and prevention programs. Project supported and financed by Italian Ministry of Health: CCM (4393).Abstract SC25 Figure 1Distribution of 167 active public infectious diseases clinical units in Italy, percentage of access to the portal and completed data collectionAbstract SC25 Figure 2Main characteristics of PLWHA in Italy according to data already collected (N=58730 - provisional data)",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "P Piselli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "L Pugliese"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "V Regine"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "E Gennaro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "C Cimaglia"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "A Caioli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "A Navarra"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "S Leone"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "D Cordella"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "C Gubinelli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ministero della Salute, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "A Caraglia"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "E Girardi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "B Suligoi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani – IRCCS, Rome, Italy",
        "Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy",
        "Ministero della Salute, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "the CARPHA3 study group"
    }
  ],
  "title": "SC25 People diagnosed with HIV and in care in Italy in 2024: preliminary results from the ongoing third national survey - CARPHA3 project",
  "uid": "6c6dc273-a716-53b8-92af-eebaf215276b"
}