The worldwide HIV epidemic has created a terrible burden for millions of individuals, families and communities around the world. Relieving it requires improved health care, better access to treatments, more vigorous prevention efforts, more effective social outreach, and support for those most vulnerable
- particularly orphans.
But there is another terrible burden imposed by AIDS, which each and every one of us has the capacity to relieve: the burden of HIV-related stigma.
The impact of stigma can be as detrimental as the virus itself. The solitude and lack of support it imposes are deeply wounding to those who suffer it. It should also hurt every one of us, for it is an affront to our common humanity.
Some people with AIDS are being denied basic rights such as food or shelter, and dismissed from jobs they are perfectly fit to perform. They may be shunned by their community, or most tragic of all, by their own family.
The fear of stigma leads to silence, and when it comes to fighting AIDS, silence is death. It suppresses public discussion about AIDS, and deters people from finding out whether they are infected. It can cause people - whether a mother breastfeeding her child or a sexual partner reluctant to disclose their HIV status - to risk transmitting HIV rather than attract suspicion that they might be infected.
- particularly orphans.
But there is another terrible burden imposed by AIDS, which each and every one of us has the capacity to relieve: the burden of HIV-related stigma.
The impact of stigma can be as detrimental as the virus itself. The solitude and lack of support it imposes are deeply wounding to those who suffer it. It should also hurt every one of us, for it is an affront to our common humanity.
Some people with AIDS are being denied basic rights such as food or shelter, and dismissed from jobs they are perfectly fit to perform. They may be shunned by their community, or most tragic of all, by their own family.
The fear of stigma leads to silence, and when it comes to fighting AIDS, silence is death. It suppresses public discussion about AIDS, and deters people from finding out whether they are infected. It can cause people - whether a mother breastfeeding her child or a sexual partner reluctant to disclose their HIV status - to risk transmitting HIV rather than attract suspicion that they might be infected.