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Experts say stigma and discrimination fuel the spread of HIV
XV International AIDS Conference Press Release. 16 July 2004.
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On the final day of the XV International AIDS Conference, experts warned of the dangers of HIV-related stigma and discrimination, arguing that such factors discourage people from coming forward to learn their HIV status and from taking precautions to protect others from possible infection. It also leads to the violation of human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, and to insufficient care or inadequate programs to serve them.
?“More than twenty years after the first reported case, stigma and discrimination continue to undermine efforts to prevent HIV and to encourage early care,?” said Dr. Joep Lange, Conference Co-Chair and President of the International AIDS Society. ?“Due to fear of rejection and reprisal, many people live with HIV in silence, and what was true in the early years of the pandemic is still true today: silence equals death.?”
Senator Mechai Viravaidya, founder and chairman of the Population and Community Development Association, Thailand, said, ?“Discrimination continues to have tragic effects both socially and economically on those affected by the disease. Due to stigma, most HIV positive people cannot fully participate in the economic activities of their communities, and many are viewed as burden[s] to other community members.?”
In his plenary remarks, Senator Mechai showcased a program in Thailand that creates partnerships to provide disadvantaged HIV positive people with opportunities to make a living, in the face of discrimination that can result in job losses and lack of social support. The program has resulted in dramatic changes in the views of HIV negative business partners, who now ?“feel strongly about helping their business partners and about changing the attitudes of their community.?”
Several speakers addressed how legal and policy frameworks can either reinforce or help reduce HIV-related discrimination and stigma. According to Ms. Irene Khan, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, ?“The fight against AIDS, if it is successful, must be a fight for the rights and interests of the world?’s most marginalised people.?”
She added, ?“Whilst accessible, appropriate and quality prevention, treatment and care services are vital, without a legal framework that establishes equality, we risk entrenching the very inequalities that are driving the epidemic and worsening its impact.?” Dr. Paulo Teixiera, head of Sao Paulo?’s Urban Development and Housing Municipal Secretariat in Brazil, spoke of the intersection between national drug control policies and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Teixiera advocated for the legalisation of Brazil?’s first harm reduction program, which authorised the Health Secretariat to distribute clean syringes and needles to injecting drug users.
In doing so, he argued that drug users deserve the right to learn how to protect themselves against HIV infection and to access services if they are HIV positive.
In his plenary remarks at the Conference, Dr. Teixiera advocated ?“programs to change social exclusion [of drug users], through access to education, prevention, job generation and health and education investments.?” He also called for an end to the U.S. ?“war on drugs,?” which runs counter to harm reduction efforts that uphold the rights of drug users.
On the topic of faith-based involvement in HIV/AIDS programs, Commissioner Canon Gideon Byamugisha, Church/FBO Partnerships Advisor at World Vision International, talked about the support offered by religion and religious groups in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He advocated four ?‘e?’s: empathy, empowerment, equipment and engagement; and six ?‘p?’s: prayers, policies, plans, programs, personnel and partnerships, as the way forward.
Rev. Gideon became the first practicing African priest to openly disclose his HIV-positive status in 1992. He did so shortly after losing his first wife to AIDS. He has since dedicated his life to eliminating HIV-related discrimination and stigma and to working with other faith-based organisations around the world.
Other Conference sessions this week focused on the need to directly confront the issue of homophobia, which leads to discrimination against men who have sex with men. Homophobia also puts many women at risk for infection by discouraging their husbands or sexual partners who may be gay or bisexual from being open about their sexuality for fear of reprisal. ?“The silence surrounding homophobia and its connection to HIV prevention must end,?” said Dr. Lange. |
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