People living with HIV suffer from stigma and discrimination – report

MANILA, Philippines — High percentages of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), including those in the Philippines, had lost jobs or income in the last 12 months based on their HIV status, a new report by the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has revealed.

Although data in the analysis often differs widely depending on country context, the analysis confirmed that stigma and discrimination remain prevalent across the region as a whole and are evident in many environments, family, community life, health care, and employment.

“Stigma and discrimination based on HIV status, sexual orientation or lifestyle choice is unacceptable and hampers the AIDS response,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “The Stigma Index is an important initiative to increase the evidence base that will enable governments and civil society partners to work more effectively to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination.”

The report, entitled “People Living with HIV Stigma Index: Asia Pacific Regional Analysis,” was launched on the fourth day of the 10th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), held last week in Busan, Republic of Korea.

It is a synthesis of nine country studies conducted across the Asia and the Pacific region — Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand — and provides the first large-scale regional comparison of standardized HIV-related stigma indicator.

Across the nine countries, discrimination in health care settings is documented as a recurring issue. Across countries in the analysis, data shows that many people living with HIV avoided clinics and hospitals for fear of being discriminated against because of their HIV-positive status. In health-care settings, confidentiality and involuntary testing for HIV were also cited as issues of concern.

In the Philippines, where the total number of infections for the entire 2010 was pegged at 1,591 based on data from the Department of Health, 38 percent of those surveyed have experienced being refused the opportunity to work as compared to 9 percent in Bangladesh.

The report also shows discrimination is a reality for all ages. Up to 35 percent of people living with HIV in China under the age of 25, for example, reported that teachers were discriminatory to them based on their HIV status.

A pervading issue across the nine-country analysis was the incidence of verbal insults and threat felt by people living with HIV: in Myanmar up to 45 pecent of those surveyed said they had experienced such discrimination. –ROY C. MABASA, Manila Bulletin