Stigma against people living with HIV in the United Kingdompersists, according to the People Living With HIV Stigma Index and reported by Pink News. The index was the result of a two-year study of 867 HIV-positiverespondents. 

According to the article, within the past year, one in fivepeople in the study had been harassed or threatened and 12 percent had beenphysically harassed because they were HIV positive. 

Also, one in five had been refused medical treatment; nearly two thirdsof the respondents were not confident about the confidentiality of theirmedical records; and 18 percent had their HIV status disclosed without theirconsent. 

“HIV is treatable nowadays, butprejudice and ignorance seem to be harder to tackle,” said Lisa Power, head ofpolicy at Terrence Higgins Trust.  

However, more than 60 percent of the respondents wereoptimistic about the possibility of improving attitudes by confronting stigmadirectly.