The agony of HIV stigma
Published:Thursday | June 29, 2023 | 12:08 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
IN 2017, a Jamaican actress starred in a local educational television commercial about HIV treatment adherence, where she reminded people living with the virus about the importance of eating healthily, exercising regularly and taking their medication every day.
Soon after the commercial aired, the public who saw the young woman afterwards, believed that she was HIV-infected when the truth was that she was not in fact infected. So her efforts to help people living with the virus to understand and appreciate the critical importance of sticking to their regime backfired.
Apart from being denied bookings, strangers on the street pointed her out to others and gossiped about her being HIV-infected and her daughter was teased at school.
So in addition to the public shaming and a substantial drop in revenue and earning opportunities, her family life was also impacted.
HARSH REALITY
As painful as that experience was for the actress, it is the harsh reality on a daily basis for HIV-infected persons living in Jamaica. This stigma and discrimination significantly impact the lives and well-being of people living with, affected by or at risk of contracting HIV. A major downside to this is that in Jamaica it usually causes people not to disclose critical information to healthcare providers and so many of them end up being diagnosed with HIV very late, while others do not adhere to their treatment regime, with some not accessing psycho-social support and other services.
For the people who are HIV-infected, stigma and discrimination take many forms and are particularly embarrassing, with friends and relatives avoiding and isolating them. It gets worse when their detractors begin to openly gossip about them, leading to verbal abuse and escalating to social rejection.
This discrimination sometimes takes a turn for the worse, where people are denied their rights, are physically abuse or even denied health or social services, lost their jobs or are denied access to educational opportunities or might even be arrested.