November 26, 2007

HIV Stigma Spans the Globe

An international study conducted by the British Red Cross revealed this week that HIV stigma knows no boundary. In Britain, for example, one in seven respondents aged 14 through 25 said they would not remain friends with someone diagnosed with HIV. What’s more, one in five of the respondents said that they would not care for a family member who was HIV positive. Only 32 percent of young Brits said they were concerned about contracting the virus (www.4rfv.co.uk, 11/26).

"The stigma and secrecy attached to HIV is having a direct impact on young people's ability worldwide to access information and talk openly about their fears and concerns about the spread of this devastating pandemic,” says Alyson Lewis, HIV adviser at the British Red Cross.

The survey questioned roughly 1,200 people in Britain, Ethiopia, South Africa and Kyrgyzstan—a country in which nearly half of all those interviewed said they would not remain friends with someone who becomes HIV positive.