December 2023 (G.T.) – It takes courage. To come out as HIV-positive and to publicly share your experience, offering it to promote knowledge and awareness on an issue - the issue of AIDS - which has been silenced and stigmatised for so long.
Photo: Matteo Bianchi | Hearst Visual Hub.
Elena Di Cioccio, Italian actress and TV and radio host, has this courage in spades, so much that she came out in her book “Cattivo Sangue” (translator’s note: Bad Blood), where she talks about how she has lived and what she has learned these past 20 years (of her almost 50, worn with nonchalance and witty humour) since finding out that she is HIV-positive.
Elena was the protagonist, along with Lavinia Farnese, Editor in chief and digital director of Cosmopolitan Italia, of the live talk “A conversation with Cosmopolitan”: an event presented by Vespa and (RED) and hosted at Motoplex Milano City Lounge (Piaggio Group flagship store in Milan), on 1 December during World Aids Day 2023.
Elena told her story sincerely and with a pinch of irreverence, gracefully urged on by Lavinia Farnese, in front of an attentive and participatory audience which did not miss a word. “Every day,” said the actress, also an activist on AIDS-related themes that she knows well, “I communicate with many people who are still in hiding - very few who come out.”
Left photo, Lavinia Farnese, Director of Cosmopolitan Italia lifestyle magazine, with Davide Zanolini, Piaggio Group Marketing & Communication Director; right photo, from the left: Elena Di Cioccio, Lavinia Farnese and Marika Pisoni, Piaggio Group Head of Consumer Relations, Media & CSR. Photo: Matteo Bianchi | Hearst Visual Hub.
As if becoming ill were (still) something shameful, a secret to protect at all costs, just to avoid the judgement of others. Elena, on the other hand - but not without suffering - has succeeded in becoming a “voice” that is heard and followed, that evokes emotion and feels emotion, telling without any false modesty how her life was transformed, how her relationship with her body and with others changed. “Compared with the eighties and nineties,” she noted, “when the state of emergency was high and the goal of the awareness campaigns was to frighten the public instead of educating it, today AIDS is almost never even spoken of.” But the infections, although reduced, continue.
Photo: Matteo Bianchi | Hearst Visual Hub.
So, initiatives like this, promoted by Vespa (RED) and Cosmopolitan, are more than welcome to share and involve, especially younger people. In a friendly and informal location, with Vespa Elettrica in (RED) livery for the must-take selfies with the slogan background: “Powe (red) by love”.
Read the Cosmopolitan article about the event:
www.cosmopolitan.com/it/lifecoach/news-attualita/a46093870/elena-di-cioccio-vespa-red-hiv
Elena di Cioccio’s text, collected by Lavinia Farnese and published in Cosmopolitan for WAD 2023:
www.cosmopolitan.com/it/lifestyle/digital-cover-cosmopolitan/a46006388/elena-di-cioccio-cosmopolitan-vespa-hiv-aids
Elena Di Cioccio Instagram:
www.instagram.com/elenadicioccio/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=3bb0250a-ebd9-4975-b7fb-99df1d5f0a3a
Photo: Matteo Bianchi | Hearst Visual Hub.
WORLD AIDS DAY. World AIDS Day is celebrated all over the world on 1 December every year. It was established in 1988 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to inform people, raise awareness on the risks, prevention, and treatment of the disease, which was first mentioned in medical literature in 1981, although isolated cases in the United States and other parts of the world (such as Haiti, Africa and Europe) were reported as early as the seventies. In over 40 years, AIDS has claimed 25 million victims and is considered to be one of the most destructive epidemics in history. Over the years, access to treatment and drugs has reduced the number of victims and improved quality of life for many.
This #WorldAIDSDay, @U2 and @SphereVegas were lighting up Las Vegas to celebrate tens of millions of lives saved in the fight against AIDS. The fight isn’t over yet. Let’s #endAIDS!. Source and info: www.red.org
In occasione del #WorldAIDSDay, @U2 e @SphereVegas hanno illuminato Las Vegas per celebrare decine di milioni di persone di vite salvate nella lotta contro l’AIDS. La lotta non è ancora finita. Fonte e info: www.red.org
For decades, the battle to weaken the disease - caused by the HIV virus - has been ongoing, involving governments, institutions, associations, and organisations, such as the American one, (RED), founded by Bono & Bobby Shriver in 2006. (RED) creates partnerships with the most iconic brands in the world, such as Vespa, breathing life into unique products to raise the funds which are fundamental in combating AIDS with the goal of weakening the disease.
(RED): www.red.org
SOCIAL CORNER – VESPA FACEBOOK:
www.facebook.com/vespa.it/?brand_redir=19154214559
1st December 2023. Today for #WorldAIDSDay, @u2 and SphereVegas to celebrate tens of millions of lives who have won the battle against AIDS. We are very proud to be a partner of (RED). This battle, however, is not over yet! Let's put an end to AIDS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION.
OMS-WAD 2023:
www.who.int/campaigns/world-aids-day/world-aids-day-2023
ALSO READ THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE:
wide.piaggiogroup.com/en/articles/events/vespa-&-red-together-at-world-aids-day-2023
