As HIV Treatment Advances, Stigma Spreads Like Disease

"...[Today] we know how HIV is transmitted, and we know how to prevent infection ... Thanks to [treatment] advances, HIV is on its way to becoming a chronic medical condition. Support services for HIV have also improved ...

"Yet, despite all this progress, the terrible stigma associated with HIV and AIDS still has not lifted. Isolation, fear and shame continue to cloud this diagnosis for many. What's worse is that the stigma surrounding HIV actually helps to perpetuate the epidemic ... Each year, tens of thousands of people who have contracted HIV do not get tested out of fear that an HIV-positive diagnosis will mean a life of isolation and discrimination.

"Misinformation accelerates the spread of HIV .. particularly among minority and poorer populations that already suffer more than their share of prejudice and discrimination ...

"We can't afford to let another 20 years go by before we separate the myths surrounding HIV and AIDS from the reality. It's time we started seeing the disease for what it is: a serious communicable disease that is both avoidable and treatable. We need more open and frank education and more community leadership to address this epidemic. We must also target resources to address the changing demographics of the disease, so that information and education programs can be tailored to the audiences that need them most.

"Finally, people living with HIV/AIDS must have access to the medical care and prevention and treatment information they need ... It's time that the human progress in how we handle HIV/AIDS in our community begins to match the advances being made in the research lab."

Vincent J. Lynch, Ph.D., is director of continuing education at Boston College Graduate School of Social Work and founder/organizer of the Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS.

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