HIV/AIDS epidemic and sexual risk behaviors. The Italian case
Carmelo Guarino, PhD

Abstract
Aim. According to the WHO latest data, at the end of 2021, the number of people with HIV/AIDS reached figures of real epidemic, ranging around 37.7 million, of which 1.5 million new infected and 680.000 died of AIDS. There has been, therefore, a change in epidemiology that reveals unprecedented social dynamics and processes, confirming the apprehensions of the European center for disease control and prevention (ECDC) and doubts of the WHO about ineffectiveness of prevention policies, especially considering the role of social networks, people unwillingness to test and frequent cases of late diagnosis. But what most worries is the highest rate of infections recorded, as anticipated, after condomless intercourses especially among MSM that seem to define the main way of HIV/AIDS spread. Results. Barebacking fits in with this context: it is a practice particularly diffuse among men who have sex with other men (MSM) and encouraged by appearance and spreading of thematic websites and sexually explicit websites and invests the international community as a high impact epidemiological factor in relation to HIV/AIDS epidemic. Conclusions. The phenomenon shows a significant sociological relevance due to the complexity of reasons and situational factors, as well as the implications and consequences that it causes both in terms of relationships and social dynamics on public health, producing effects on many and different levels of analysis, including the legal one.

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