Academy for Educational Development

World AIDS Day 2008
Fighting Stigma and Discrimination in the U.S.

It has been nearly three decades since the AIDS epidemic began. In that time, new treatments have changed the impact of the disease – making it possible for individuals with HIV/AIDS to live longer, more productive lives.

However, despite the advances in medicine, HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination continue to form a barrier between life-saving treatment and the 1.1 million Americans who need it.

A Deadly Silence

“People living with HIV/AIDS face stigma and discrimination every day,” said Frank Beadle de Palomo, senior vice president and director of Global HIV/AIDS Programs and the AED Center on AIDS & Community Health. Stigma, he said, may prevent individuals from getting the diagnosis and medical care they need to lead healthier lives and stop spreading the disease.

To reduce stigma and embrace prevention, Beadle de Palomo said that communities need to engage in frank discussions about sexual health, sexual behavior, substance abuse, and homosexuality, noting that stigma has particularly acute effects in racial, ethnic, and low-income communities.

“Dialogue,” he said, “needs to be open and honest, not hidden beneath layers of shame. In some cultures, homosexuality is so stigmatized that no word exists for it. This silence is what continues to kill people.”

One such program is AED’s innovative Web site, www.hivaidsstigma.org, which serves as a clearinghouse for anti-stigma research, tools, and resources, as well as information on community-based and national-level programs. For example, its “In Their Own Words” section allows visitors to download video and audio clips about stigma’s impact on the spread of the disease. Clips include presentations by experts in the field, discussions among program staff working in various communities, and, most recently, personal stories from around the country.

With nearly one in five HIV-positive individuals not knowing their serostatus, Beadle de Palomo argued that more must be done to reduce stigma and reach those who need diagnosis and care.

“My sense is that a number of those who remain undiagnosed know they are positive, but don’t want to find out,” he said. “Medical professionals, from private practices to emergency rooms, need to be more aggressive in encouraging their patients to get tested. We are missing too many opportunities for early detection and referral to care.”