{
  "abstract": "Background and Objectives The activity of testing for HIV in the context of community-based voluntary counselling and testing (CBVCT) services run by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rapidly increased. Our aim was to characterize the number and characteristics of people accessing HIV-testing and the reactivity in the last years (2019-2025).Material and Methods We collect disaggregated data collected from several NGOs offering HIV screening during the period of study (Jan2019-Dec2025). Given the non-standardization of data collection procedures and structure of dataset, in this analysis we consider those variables universally collected which included gender, age, nationality, reason for testing and preliminary result. The number of people to be tested to find one HIV-positive individuals (Number needed to test, NNT) was calculated according to sexual orientation, age and nationality dividing the number of strata-specific tested individuals by the number of reactive tests.Results Data from 41 single organizations mainly participating to the COBATEST network from all over Italy were included. Overall, 60039 testers were considered, with an increasing number of tests performed starting from 4297 in 2019 up to 12568 tests in 2025 with a minimum of 2946 tests in 2020. The majority were males (66.4%) than females (31.4%), with an overall median age at test of 29 years (interquartile range, IQR: 24-37). Overall, 344 (0.57%) testers resulted HIV-reactive. Persons with a reactive test were older than those with a non-reactive result (33 vs 29, p<0.001). According to gender, females showed a lower prevalence (0.25%), while 0.67% in males (0.85% in MSM/Bisexual males) and higher in transgender persons (6/286, 2.97%) ( table 1). In a subgroup 53276 tests (88.7%) where among other information on nationality those referring a previous test (which overall represent 57.9% of all testers), prevalence was higher in foreigners vs. Italians (1.20% vs 0.47%, p<0.001), and in those referring a previous HIV-test (0.67% vs. 0.45%, p<0.001). Considering the trend of NNT according to sexual orientation MSM/Bisexual males showed a lower number of NNT than Heterosexual that for both groups increased over time up to 2021, while decreasing thereafter (figure 1). For Italians there was no evident trend over time of NNT change, while the NNT for non-Italian increased over time (figure 1). NNT was higher for younger individuals and progressively lower in older testers, with no clear trend over time (figure 1).Conclusions NGOs were able to provide an increasing number of testing opportunities for HIV. Sharing data among NGOs with different experiences, target and geographical distribution can provide a more comprehensive and detailed figure able to show data on key-populations and hard to reach groups, often underrepresented in the surveillance data. *Project supported and financed by Italian Ministry of Health: General Direction for Health prevention (ref 4023).Abstract OC8 Figure 1Number of persons needed to be tested (NNT) according to sexual orientation, nationality and age group. Italy: 2019-2025Abstract OC8 Table 1Distribution of main characteristics of testers for HIV performed by NGOs in community-based settings, reactivity rate and NNTc. Italy: 2019-2025",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "INMI L. Spallanzani, Rome, Ital"
      ],
      "name": "P Piselli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "INMI L. Spallanzani, Rome, Ital"
      ],
      "name": "E Gennaro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "INMI L. Spallanzani, Rome, Ital"
      ],
      "name": "C Cimaglia"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "LILA Como, Como, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "G Giupponi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "L Fernàndez-López"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "LILA Milano, Milan, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "L Cosmaro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Milano Checkpoint, Milan, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "M Cernuschi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "CICA, Bergamo, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "P Meli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "PLUS, Bologna, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "S Mattioli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Associazione Solidarietà AIDS (ASA), Milan, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "N Frattini"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Circolo di Cultura Omosessuale Mario Mieli, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "M Farinella"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "CARITAS Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "L Rancilio"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Arcigay, Padua, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "I Pennini"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Arcobaleno AIDS, Turin, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "S Patrucco"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "CNCA, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "A Camposeragna"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Fondazione Villa Maraini, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "D Masci"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Movimento Omosessuale Sardo (MOS), Sassari, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "G Moi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Network Persone Sieropostive (NPS) Italia, Milan, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "C Nicoara"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Checkpoint PLUS Roma, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "VL del Negro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain"
      ],
      "name": "M Gogishvilli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "INMI L. Spallanzani, Rome, Ital"
      ],
      "name": "A Caioli"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "INMI L. Spallanzani, Rome, Ital"
      ],
      "name": "S Leone"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "INMI L. Spallanzani, Rome, Ital"
      ],
      "name": "A Navarra"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Ministero della Salute, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "A Caraglia"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "INMI L. Spallanzani, Rome, Ital"
      ],
      "name": "E Girardi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "INMI L. Spallanzani, Rome, Ital",
        "LILA Como, Como, Italy",
        "Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain",
        "LILA Milano, Milan, Italy",
        "Milano Checkpoint, Milan, Italy",
        "CICA, Bergamo, Italy",
        "PLUS, Bologna, Italy",
        "Associazione Solidarietà AIDS (ASA), Milan, Italy",
        "Circolo di Cultura Omosessuale Mario Mieli, Rome, Italy",
        "CARITAS Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy",
        "Arcigay, Padua, Italy",
        "Arcobaleno AIDS, Turin, Italy",
        "CNCA, Rome, Italy",
        "Fondazione Villa Maraini, Rome, Italy",
        "Movimento Omosessuale Sardo (MOS), Sassari, Italy",
        "Network Persone Sieropostive (NPS) Italia, Milan, Italy",
        "Checkpoint PLUS Roma, Rome, Italy",
        "Ministero della Salute, Rome, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "for the Working Group of the project ‘Contribution of the Association to the continuum of care of persons living with HIV and AIDS’"
    }
  ],
  "title": "OC8 Characteristics of individuals tested for HIV within community-based voluntary counselling and testing (CBVCT) activities in Italy (2019-2025)",
  "uid": "c9e8c776-9959-5a72-b3c0-8411edd51a81"
}