Countering Stigma, Vital to Preventing and Treating HIV/AIDS

Photo: Young HIV orphan in Malawi with baby on her back. Stigma exacerbates the HIV/AIDS pandemic is sub-Saharan Africa. More than 11 million children are orphaned as a result of the AIDS epidemic.

More than 6800 people will be infected and 5700 will die today from HIV/AIDS worldwide[i]. HIV is preventable and treatable if those infected receive the necessary medical support to manage their illness without encountering discrimination, among other obstacles that prevent access to proper healthcare.

The HIV/AIDS stigma is prevalent across the globe, but it manifests to various degrees among regions and individuals. “Stigma remains the single most important barrier to public action. It helps make AIDS the silent killer, because people fear the social disgrace of speaking about it, or taking easily available precautions,” says Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. “Stigma is a chief reason the AIDS epidemic continues to devastate societies around the world”[ii].

Despite scientists discovering the routes HIV can be transmitted in 1984, inaccurate information about virus transmission remains prevalent worldwide. Misconceptions that fuel the stigma regarding HIV transmission include but are not limited to: contracting the disease as a result of moral violations, transmission via eye contact, regular physical contact, kissing and additional beliefs that are scientifically erroneous. The stigma has caused gross human rights violations, which devastate the wellbeing of those living with HIV/AIDS by further exacerbating the pandemic. It is widely acknowledged the stigma deters people with HIV/AIDS from seeking proper diagnosis and treatment – that in-turn results in most people with the disease remaining unaware of their status. However prolonging and avoiding proper diagnosis makes any medical recourse less effective, plus those infected also unknowingly spread HIV and further escalate the epidemic.

Indeed, Social Theorist at the University of Leeds, David Beetham emphasizes the greatest obstacle to countering the stigma is the lack of education. Beetham argues knowledge is “a direct prerequisite for” implementing proper disease prevention efforts – without acknowledging the causes of “illness, or how to make the best use of” resources available, “an otherwise adequate supply may prove insufficient to meet basic needs”[iii]. In other words, if antiretroviral treatments were affordable and globally accessible such preventative measures are useless, if “people lack access to information about the risks of HIV/AIDS and are denied adequate education, prevention efforts are bound to fail and the epidemic will spread more quickly”[iv].

Thus, addressing the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS should be a priority concern, in order for policy makers to implement effective preventative measures. “Yet despite the recognition of the significance and prevalence of stigma”, most governments neglect to prioritize eliminating the stigma in public awareness and education endeavors[v]. According to a United Nations Human Development Report, “disrespect for civil and political rights makes society-wide mobilization against HIV/AIDS and open dialogue about prevention impossible”[vi]. Also, many public health and medical scholars believe historical misconceptions regarding HIV/AIDS denial have caused numerous political arbiters to neglect the HIV/AIDS crisis, such renunciation still persists in contemporary practices and it contributes to the stigma obstructing access to medical treatments for those in need.

Consequently, “access to patented medicines… is not the sole or even the principal obstacle to adequate provision of health products and medical devices to the poor population of developing countries”[vii]. Although antiretroviral treatments are vital for fighting opportunistic infections and other potentially life-threatening complications, receiving such treatments are not only limited by financial predicaments caused by “intellectual property agreements under the World Trade Organization” but there are also misconceptions in the healthcare sector[viii]. For example, many people infected encounter constrained access to facilities and medical counseling to manage their illness. Such responses are frequently stimulated by the lack of information amongst medical professionals regarding how HIV is transmitted.

In addition to HIV/AIDS stigma in the political and health sectors, the stigma remains prevalent in other ways that breach human rights including but not limited to discrimination among employment opportunities, travel and family. Since the initial discovery of AIDS among homosexual males thirty years ago, people with HIV or AIDS particularly homosexual males, other select cohorts and  positively diagnosed  individuals have encountered social stigma and been denied employment opportunities. Despite employer discrimination subsiding in recent years, it continues to obstruct human capital and development especially in developing countries.

Further, “52 countries, territories, and areas impose some form of restriction on entry, stay and residence based on HIV status”[ix]. Such restrictions are not only prevalent in developing countries but presently apply to developed countries including Australia, plus the United States had restrictions on allowing HIV positive people to enter the country until Jan. 4, 2010 [x]. However, deporting people with HIV or AIDS infringes on their human rights with possibly life threatening consequences. For example those taking antiretroviral drugs encounter dire consequences if they are deported to a region with scarce medical resources, as it could cause immune withdraw and even death. Also, people living with HIV are subject to being deported to a region where they are vulnerable to additional discrimination. In many cases, people with HIV and AIDS are ostracized by their family, friends, and communities, which may induce people to neglect seeking medical care, socializing or attending school.

Ultimately, “the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS leads to shame, silence and denial, fuelling the epidemic”[xi]. Plus numerous policy makers and individuals continually deny that HIV/AIDS exists in their regions, which makes countering the stigma against HIV/AIDS insurmountable, and postpones any medical or preventative recourse. Although a certain amount of progress can be accomplished via improving healthcare accessibility, no political or legal recourse can solely counter the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In fact, the pandemic will existentially prevail, given societies, as a whole fail to overcome the HIV/AIDS stigma. The prejudice attitudes at the heart of the HIV/AIDS stigma must be defeated at both local and national levels, with education playing a pivotal role.  Therefore if people are less apprehensive about HIV/AIDS, they’ll be less reluctant to get tested for HIV, disclose their status, and seek necessary medical treatments, which in-turn will lead to not only wider prevention and prompt treatment, but also increased human rights, development, and capital being realized.

© 2011, Alex Solomon. All rights reserved.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 7th, 2011 at 9:19 PM and is filed under 2011, 2nd Article. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.