HIV/AIDS Related Stigma And Discrimination Is Worse Than Racism Or Cancer

AIDS-related stigma and discrimination refers to prejudice, negative attitudes, abuse and maltreatment directed at people living with HIV and AIDS. The consequences of stigma and discrimination are wide-ranging as from being shunned by family, peers and the wider community, poor treatment in healthcare and education settings, an erosion of rights, psychological damage, and a negative effect on the success of HIV testing and treatment. From the early days of the identification of AIDS, the disease has been powerfully linked to behaviors that are illegal (such as illicit drug use) or are considered immoral by many people (such as promiscuity and homosexuality).

AIDS stigma and discrimination has existed worldwide, although they manifest themselves differently across countries, communities, religious groups and individuals. They occur alongside other forms of stigma and discrimination, such as racism, stigma based on physical appearance, homophobia or misogyny. Consequently, a diagnosis of AIDS was considered a mark of disgrace, although medical research has revealed that the disease follows well-defined modes of transmission that can affect any person. As the extent of the epidemic unfolded, misinformation about AIDS and how it is transmitted triggered widespread fear of contracting the disease. Some communities responded with hysteria that resulted in violence.

In other communities, parents protested when HIV-infected children attended school. In many areas of the world, women in particular have faced consequences of their HIV status if discovered. Reports indicate that many HIV-infected women are subject to domestic violence at the hands of their husbands even if the husbands themselves are the source of infection. As a result, some women in developing nations fear being tested for HIV infection and cut themselves off from medical care and counseling. Women with HIV or AIDS have been treated very differently from men in some societies where they are economically, culturally and socially disadvantaged. They are sometimes mistakenly perceived to be the main transmitters of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Consequently, men are more likely than women to be 'excused' for the behaviour that resulted in their infection. Even a married woman who has been infected by her husband will be accused by her in-law in a male-dominated society has no-one ever accepts that the man is actually the one who did something wrong. It is even harder on women since it is seen as a fair result of their sexual misbehaviour.

The epidemic of fear, stigmatization and discrimination has undermined the ability of individuals, families and societies to protect themselves and provide support and reassurance to those affected. This has hindered in no small way, efforts at stemming the epidemic. It has complicated decisions about testing, disclosure of status, and ability to negotiate prevention behaviours, including use of family planning services.

AIDS-related stigma has had a profound effect on the epidemic's course. The WHO cites fear of stigma and discrimination as the main reason why people are reluctant to be tested, to disclose their HIV status or to take antiretroviral drugs. One study found that participants who reported high levels of stigma were more than four times more likely to report poor access to care. These factors all contribute to the expansion of the epidemic (as a reluctance to determine HIV status or to discuss or practice safe sex means that people are more likely to infect others) and a higher number of AIDS-related deaths. An unwillingness to take an HIV test means that more people are diagnosed late, when the virus has already progressed to AIDS, makes treatment less effective and causes early death.

To some scientists, the AIDS epidemic signals a troubling trend in humanity's future. Along with other deadly microbial threats of recent years most notably Ebola virus, which has caused sporadic epidemics in Africa and Hantavirus, which broke out in the American Southwest in the early 1990s . AIDS is viewed by some as yet another in a series of emerging diseases that demonstrate how vulnerable humans are to newly encountered microbes.

On the other hand Stigma has not only made it more difficult for people trying to come to terms with HIV and manage their illness on a personal level, but it has also interfered with attempts to fight the AIDS epidemic as a whole. On a national level, the stigma associated with HIV has deterred governments from taking fast, effective action against the epidemic, whilst on a personal level it has made individuals reluctant to access HIV testing, treatment and care.

Stigma remains the single most important barrier to public action. It is a main reason why too many people are afraid to see a doctor to determine whether they have the disease, or to seek treatment if found to be positive. HIV infection helps make AIDS the 'SILENT KILLER' because people fear the social disgrace of speaking about it, or taking easily available precautions. Stigma is a chief reason why the AIDS epidemic continues to devastate societies around the world.

In addition to social stigma, people infected with HIV must grapple with more immediate concerns of a daily struggle for basic medical care and other basic rights in the face of discrimination and fear because of their HIV status. In some places, nurses and other medical personnel who fear infection refuse to perform procedures on HIV-infected people. Some developing nations, such as Uganda, have met the AIDS crisis head-on, attempting to educate citizens and change high-risk behaviors in the population. However, other nations have been slow to even acknowledge the disease. In developed nations, some of the stigma attached to a diagnosis of AIDS has lessened in recent years, in part due to the admissions by public figures and celebrities.

Fear of contagion coupled with negative, value-based assumptions about people who are infected leads to high levels of stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS. HIV/AIDS is a life-threatening disease, and therefore people react to it in strong ways. Infection with HIV has been associated with behaviours (such as homosexuality, drug addiction, prostitution or promiscuity) that are already stigmatized in many societies. Most people become infected with HIV through sex, which often carries moral baggage.

There is a lot of inaccurate information about how HIV is transmitted, creating irrational behaviour and misperceptions of personal risk. It has also often been thought to be the result of personal irresponsibility. Religious or moral beliefs has led to some people to believe that being infected with HIV is the result of moral fault (such as promiscuity or 'deviant sex') that deserves to be punished hence people fear to disclose their status. The effects of antiretroviral therapy on people's physical appearance have also resulted in forced disclosure and discrimination based on appearance.

The fact that HIV/AIDS is still considered a relatively new disease has also contributed to the stigma attached to it. The fear surrounding the emerging epidemic in the 1980s is still fresh in many people's minds. At that time very little was known about the risk of HIV transmission, which made people scared of those infected due to fear of contagion. From early in the AIDS epidemic, a series of powerful images were used that reinforced and legitimized stigmatization.

HIV/AIDS-related stigma is neither a straightforward phenomenon nor static as attitudes towards the epidemic and those affected vary massively. It changes over time as infection levels, knowledge of the disease and treatment availability vary.

Even within one country reactions to HIV/AIDS varies between individuals and groups of people. Religion, gender, sexuality, age and levels of AIDS education has all affected how someone feels about HIV and AIDS hence the saying, 'if you are not infected then you are affected,' makes sense in helping us fight stigma and discrimination against the pandemic. We hope that this article has had an impact on you whether infected or affected side of the epidemic as stigma and discrimination is not helping us in any way to fight this war against HIV/AIDS which is now worse than racism or cancer. Let's support each other in this battle for an HIV/AIDS free generation.

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Jones. H. Munang'Andu (Author)
Motivational speaker, health commentator &
Health practitioner
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