Fighting HIV hysteria in Ukraine
Kyiv Post, 10 August 2005
AIDS experts in Ukraine often draw a distinction between the official number of people diagnosed with HIV and the estimated true number of people living with HIV. Experts at UNAIDS and other organizations estimate that the true number of people with HIV/AIDS is 1.4 percent of the adult population, which is at least ten times the official number. This means that close to 90 percent of people with HIV have not been tested, are not registered with the state AIDS centers and are not receiving the proper counseling and care. Many of these people may not yet know that they are HIV positive.
Why is such a large proportion of the people living with HIV/AIDS completely off the official radar? One reason is stigma. The stigma associated with HIV/AIDS is even more dangerous than the disease itself. Stigma keeps people living with HIV/AIDS from getting the treatment, care and support that they need to live normal and healthy lives. The fear of being identified as being HIV positive also prevents people with HIV from getting tested, receiving counseling and learning how to avoid transmitting it to others.
Where does this stigma come from? It may originate in the fear or distrust of certain social groups. Injecting drug users, sex workers, men who have sex with men and other groups that are currently more vulnerable to HIV are already stigmatized. Associating HIV with these groups may allow people to legitimize their fear of these groups. In a research study conducted by AIDS Foundation East-West and the Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, both before and after a recent media campaign to fight such stigma and discrimination, more than 70 percent said that an HIV-positive person is at least partly to blame for becoming infected.
The stigma may also come from lack of education about the nature of HIV. A majority of Ukrainians aged 15-50 can correctly identify the ways HIV is transmitted between people. The results also show that the media campaign was able to reinforce these majorities. The percentage of respondents who saw the campaign and said they had no fear of people with HIV rose from 45 percent before the campaign to 54 percent afterwards. Yet when they were asked about concrete situations, the results were more troubling. A strong majority of respondents said there was at least some risk from eating in a restaurant with an HIV-positive waiter (62 percent before the campaign and 52 percent after). Just under half (48 percent before the campaign and 40 percent after) said there was at least some risk from working in an office with an HIV-positive colleague.
When surveyors asked before the campaign how they would react if they found out a child living with HIV was in the same school as their child, 31 percent said they would take steps to isolate their child from the HIV-positive classmate. This figure dropped to 19 percent for those who saw the campaign, but it needs to fall further.
The results have shown that educational campaigns can have a positive impact, but they also show that more work needs to be done. In addition to more of these types of campaigns and targeted educational activities, there needs to be more community mobilization, not just of people living with HIV/AIDS, but of drug users, gay men, sex workers and others that are currently the most stigmatized and more vulnerable to the epidemic. At the same time,
Ukrainian lawmakers and officials should ensure that people with HIV/AIDS are protected by the law and not discriminated against. This includes ensuring the confidentiality of a person's HIV status.
Journalists can help too. Recent news reports this summer of HIV-laced syringes on Ukraine's beaches that overstate the risks have only helped to fuel a mass HIV hysteria. The chance of becoming infected with HIV from a prick by a discarded syringe is generally accepted to be less than 0.3 percent. While this may be a legitimate news story, journalists should be careful to put the risks in perspective and not create fear for the sake of catchy headlines.
Journalists can also avoid using degrading terms and labels like "HIV-infected" or "victims" when talking about people living with HIV/AIDS. There is even a tendency among people and institutions involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS to dehumanize people living with HIV/AIDS into various acronyms, such as "PLWHA."
Everyone has a role to play in addressing HIV/AIDS in Ukraine and throughout the world. The first step for many people is to learn the real risks about HIV and not rely on rumors. Then they should discuss it with their family, friends and colleagues. In order to seriously address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, the epidemic of fear and HIV hysteria must first be eradicated.
David Veazey is a senior advisor at AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW).
Source: Sitgma-AIDS eForum
AIDS experts in Ukraine often draw a distinction between the official number of people diagnosed with HIV and the estimated true number of people living with HIV. Experts at UNAIDS and other organizations estimate that the true number of people with HIV/AIDS is 1.4 percent of the adult population, which is at least ten times the official number. This means that close to 90 percent of people with HIV have not been tested, are not registered with the state AIDS centers and are not receiving the proper counseling and care. Many of these people may not yet know that they are HIV positive.
Why is such a large proportion of the people living with HIV/AIDS completely off the official radar? One reason is stigma. The stigma associated with HIV/AIDS is even more dangerous than the disease itself. Stigma keeps people living with HIV/AIDS from getting the treatment, care and support that they need to live normal and healthy lives. The fear of being identified as being HIV positive also prevents people with HIV from getting tested, receiving counseling and learning how to avoid transmitting it to others.
Where does this stigma come from? It may originate in the fear or distrust of certain social groups. Injecting drug users, sex workers, men who have sex with men and other groups that are currently more vulnerable to HIV are already stigmatized. Associating HIV with these groups may allow people to legitimize their fear of these groups. In a research study conducted by AIDS Foundation East-West and the Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, both before and after a recent media campaign to fight such stigma and discrimination, more than 70 percent said that an HIV-positive person is at least partly to blame for becoming infected.
The stigma may also come from lack of education about the nature of HIV. A majority of Ukrainians aged 15-50 can correctly identify the ways HIV is transmitted between people. The results also show that the media campaign was able to reinforce these majorities. The percentage of respondents who saw the campaign and said they had no fear of people with HIV rose from 45 percent before the campaign to 54 percent afterwards. Yet when they were asked about concrete situations, the results were more troubling. A strong majority of respondents said there was at least some risk from eating in a restaurant with an HIV-positive waiter (62 percent before the campaign and 52 percent after). Just under half (48 percent before the campaign and 40 percent after) said there was at least some risk from working in an office with an HIV-positive colleague.
When surveyors asked before the campaign how they would react if they found out a child living with HIV was in the same school as their child, 31 percent said they would take steps to isolate their child from the HIV-positive classmate. This figure dropped to 19 percent for those who saw the campaign, but it needs to fall further.
The results have shown that educational campaigns can have a positive impact, but they also show that more work needs to be done. In addition to more of these types of campaigns and targeted educational activities, there needs to be more community mobilization, not just of people living with HIV/AIDS, but of drug users, gay men, sex workers and others that are currently the most stigmatized and more vulnerable to the epidemic. At the same time,
Ukrainian lawmakers and officials should ensure that people with HIV/AIDS are protected by the law and not discriminated against. This includes ensuring the confidentiality of a person's HIV status.
Journalists can help too. Recent news reports this summer of HIV-laced syringes on Ukraine's beaches that overstate the risks have only helped to fuel a mass HIV hysteria. The chance of becoming infected with HIV from a prick by a discarded syringe is generally accepted to be less than 0.3 percent. While this may be a legitimate news story, journalists should be careful to put the risks in perspective and not create fear for the sake of catchy headlines.
Journalists can also avoid using degrading terms and labels like "HIV-infected" or "victims" when talking about people living with HIV/AIDS. There is even a tendency among people and institutions involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS to dehumanize people living with HIV/AIDS into various acronyms, such as "PLWHA."
Everyone has a role to play in addressing HIV/AIDS in Ukraine and throughout the world. The first step for many people is to learn the real risks about HIV and not rely on rumors. Then they should discuss it with their family, friends and colleagues. In order to seriously address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, the epidemic of fear and HIV hysteria must first be eradicated.
David Veazey is a senior advisor at AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW).
Source: Sitgma-AIDS eForum
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 6:47 pm
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