TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
IBEKWE         OGOCHUKWU               ALEXANDER
IBEKWE OGOCHUKWU ALEXANDER
HIV/AIDS Stigma as a social process
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

HIV/AIDS Stigma as a social process

Since the very early days of HIV, PLWHA have faced stigma and discrimination. Sometimes this is due to lack of information - flawed perceptions of risk based on ignorance of the fact that HIV is hard to catch, apart from a handful of specific - and obvious - routes of transmission.
Sadly, stigma is more than simply paucity of knowledge. Society inevitably constructs hierarchies, and unpopular illnesses like HIV provide useful markers indicating where people should be placed on the hierarchy.
All societies need to have one illness which becomes identified with evil, attaching blame to its victims. This tendency seems locked into our DNA, and is as true now as it was when people with leprosy - and leper colonies - were widespread.
Stigma is therefore founded on a fundamental social process, and has far-reaching effects - not only do PLWHA feel dirty, ashamed and guilty, but stigma has the potential to damage public-health initiatives. If affected person fear stigma, they are much less willing to attend health-centers for testing or treatment. Instead, they are often forced to inhabit a world of denial and paranoia.
The theme of World AIDS Day in 2007 is leadership. What should the priorities be in the next period in the context of HIV stigma?
First, there must be a concerted attempt to confront public discourse around HIV. Stigma - as a social product - lives and thrives within discourse.
Second, political leaders must publicly take a stand against HIV stigma, and consider the impact of public policies on attitudes. The Irish taoiseach Bertie Ahern, for example, personally launched the "stamp out stigma" campaign in the country in December 2006. With such explicit government support, and in collaboration with a range of non-governmental organizations, the campaign expects to have a significant impact on raising the profile of HIV in Ireland, and reducing negative responses to affected people.
Less helpful actions are the proposed policies of the US, China and more recently Australia in refusing entry to PLWHA, suggesting immigration policy may increasingly be influenced not just by fear of terror, but also of infection. In addition, the reluctance of senior politicians in some African countries to clarify issues around HIV and AIDS, and by implication the value of testing and treatment, sends confusing and harmful messages to a populace struggling to cope with communities devastated by HIV.
Third, all agencies engaged with HIV must appreciate that many of their interventions are predicated on a lessening of HIV stigma. The G8 pledge in 2005 aiming for universal access to HIV care and treatment for all by 2010 - also endorsed by UN member states - was clearly a significant development. But if affected people are too afraid to be tested or attend for treatment, then the goal will surely remain aspirational. Adequate funding must be made available for initiatives to address social, as well as physical, components of HIV.
HIV represents a conflation of pathology and social process, and in the final analysis, perhaps the responsibility for confronting stigma starts with ourselves. We readily categorize others according to our own interpretation of acceptability. On a personal level, the Hobbesian notion of an instinctive drive to "war against all" is never far below the surface. Once we confront our own biases, perhaps then we can better understand those of others.
World AIDS Day has come and gone, there is a need to improve awareness of local leaders and policy-makers on the multiple impacts of HIV/AIDS on our society, the economy and psychology of the elderly, let's take time to consider the effects of HIV stigma on the lived experience of people living with HIV/AIDS, and continue to demand policies and interventions from our leaders - and ourselves - that properly address its complex social features.
HIV stigma is alive and well, and as we near the beginning of the epidemic's fourth decade, many people living with HIV (PLHIV) remain marked as different - or dangerous. HIV stigma is "exceptional in its scale, its context, and its causes. Stigma hurts and imprints on the soul.
Let’s join our hand and fight stigma that surround HIV/AIDS, Let us join our hand and support People living with HIV/AIDS I our society.

December 18, 2007 | 5:39 AM Comments  0 comments

Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.


ALEXANDER's Profile

ALEXANDER's Friends


Latest Posts
Disability, Sex and...
NYNETHA LEADERSHIP
Combating HIV/AIDS...
HIV/AIDS Stigma as a...
Growing Impact of...

Monthly Archive
November 2005
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
June 2007
July 2007
November 2007
December 2007
March 2008
April 2008

Change Language


Tags Archive
accesstotreatmentforyplwha byrenatocasaro careandsupportforyplwha filipino legends miningfullinvolvementofyplwha mythology schirokko signal social stories youhaveachoicetomake youngpeoplemostvulnerable

Filter By Type
Events
News
Travel
Topics

Friends
A Better Community for All (ABC4All)
Aare Kornar !
Abdallah Diwan
adewole taiwo
ams
ankag
Ansari, Omar Mansoor
Azubike
Blessed nony
Ceren Gergeroglu
chidubem Anorijebe
Chinazo Nkechi Iloghalu
Chukwu Darlington
Chukwu Darlington
clarita zarate
GSimon
Hilda Birungi
Hoda
Jennifer Corriero
jizzle
Johne
Juan Diego Valenzuela
k dot
kaka
Kina
Maja Lackova
Maria Lanza
Martin Chlebo
michelle
nancy
Nick Moraitis
opara george
Papi Kwami Ekuka WUSSINU
raseatana
Shasheen Jayaweera
SOF-JasmineR
Sofmahcaiyahwg
Sofya
Tamoy
Vicky Yuen
XU Jennis
Yara Kassem

Links
AIDS 2006
Clinton Foundation
GLOBAL NET WORK OF PEOPLE...
GO TO OGOCHUKWU'S 360 SITE...
Grant.Gov
GRANTS.GOV
Jounalist Against AIDS
LIVING POSITIVELY WITH HIV
PEPFAR WATCH
PEPFAR WATCH
positively information
READ MY INTERVIEW WITH GYCA
science in africa
STIGMA REDUCTION WORKSHOP
TeenAIDS PeerCorps
TIBOTEC-HIV.COM
UNAIDS WORLD
VIEW OGOCHUKWU'S ALBUM
YOUTH AT UNITED NATION


36068 views
Important Disclaimer