Access to Healthcare Services among Immigrant Patients with HIV in Perugia

According to recent estimates of the World Health Organization, the number of people with HIV is approximately 35.3 million worldwide, and Sub - Saharan Africa remains most severely affected, with nearly one in every 20 adults living with HIV and accounting for nearly 71% of the people living with HIV worldwide [1]. Migration flows have a considerable impact on the epidemiology of HIV infection and its clinical management [2,3]. Immigrant populations are known to be a higher risk of acquiring HIV infection, they are more vulnerable because subject to numerous factors of discomfort: coming from countries highly endemic for HIV (Africa, South-America, Eastern Europe, Asia), social exclusion, language, cultural and socio-economic barriers. These individual and social factors must be added: the problems related to difficulties in access to health services for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, the limited social and legal protection, and not least the difficulty of access to information on prevention. All of this involves a greater risk of acquisition of HIV infection and a more rapid progression towards the final stage of the disease, that is, to AIDS [2,3]. Italy is among the countries that attract the largest number of immigrants. The AIDS Operative Center (COA) of the Italian National Institute of Health reported 3608 new cases of HIV infection in Italy for the year ending 2013, with 24% affecting foreigners (incidence of 19.7 cases/100.00 foreign residents/year) [4].