Year One: Targeting Individuals

Decreasing Myths and Misconceptions About HIV/AIDS and Fighting Ignorance

There is a continued need to let people know the basic facts about HIV/AIDS transmission, non-transmission, prevention and care. Ignorance of the facts leads to fear, which, in turn, adds to stigma and discrimination. Recent surveys show that some 50% of young people worldwide do not know how to protect themselves from HIV infection. Without universal understanding of the facts about HIV/AIDS, and unless unfounded myths are dispelled, stigma and discrimination cannot be eliminated. As part of this process, general public information campaigns on how HIV is, and is not, transmitted and effective prevention methods are essential.

Increasing the Self-Esteem of People Vulnerable to, and/or Infected With, HIV/AIDS

People infected with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS often have low self-esteem as a result of stigma and discrimination. Often this low self-esteem is created by the internalization of stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. Increasing the self-esteem of people living with HIV/AIDS will increase their ability to live fully and assert their rights. This can be achieved by people learning to differentiate between their self or identity and their HIV infection, thereby being able to reject the social meanings attributed to HIV/AIDS. Some of the activities that may be encouraged are:

• operations research on self-stigmatization by PLWHA to better understand this phenomenon; and
• development of training of trainers (ToT) skill-building modules for PLWHA on self-esteem, stress and stress management, self-reflection, and self-care.

Encouraging People Infected With HIV to Tell Their Story

People living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS bear the consequences and face the impact of stigma and discrimination continually throughout their lives. Their stories need to be heard, reflected upon and internalized by the general public. The campaign will encourage PLWHA and support groups to share their experiences with a variety of audiences. These could include speaking in local churches, schools and communities, and making presentations to people in authority about their experiences. Positive Nation (www.positivenation.co.uk/) and other community papers will publish stories of instances of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. Such a sharing of experiences allows for community understanding of how HIV/AIDS impinges upon people¹s lives, humanizes the disease and allows people to reflect upon how they and their society are responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Community Debates

Community debates are often an important step in reducing stigma and discrimination. Through open discussion, issues and feelings can be better understood and appreciated. People who wish to change their behaviour will be able to do so more easily in such supportive environments. Such forums may also help to reduce the internalized stigma of people with certain lifestyles or living with HIV/AIDS. Community discussions help give a public face to HIV/AIDS and break the silence surrounding the epidemic.

Peer Discussion

The campaign should encourage peer discussion on issues of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. These can take place between health-care providers, employers, teachers, legislators, community leaders, religious leaders, co-workers and friends. Discussion of experiences and beliefs with others is important for identifying sources of stigma and discrimination and for supporting behavioural change.

Stigma and Discrimination Issues to be Part of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Programmes

Every organization undertaking outreach work should discuss stigma, discrimination and any human rights violations that result from them. Peer and outreach educators should be given training on how to address the issue of stigma and discrimination in their daily work. And peer educators and service providers should discuss issues and experiences related to stigma and discrimination, as well as to surrounding vulnerable populations.

The role of antiretroviral therapy in the "normalization" of HIV/AIDS needs to be highlighted. Fear, one of the building blocks of stigma, can be reduced when people see that having HIV or AIDS is not an automatic death sentence. This message needs to be spread as scaled-up antiretroviral therapy becomes available in many countries.

In the case of sex work, stigma often holds sex workers back from availing themselves of legal, health and social services. The negative attitudes of service providers often reflect those of their community and do not provide sex workers with the same quality of care given to others. Similar attitudes are met among legal support and enforcement personnel. These service providers are often inadequately prepared to address the special vulnerabilities of sex workers, such as violence and exploitation, and cannot extend the type and quality of support needed.

Reaching Out to Young People and Children

From an early age, young people and children should learn not to stigmatize and discriminate. They should also be informed about their own human rights, and should learn the importance of respecting the human rights of others. Parents, schools, youth and sports clubs, etc., should encourage young people to discuss HIV/AIDS and the issues surrounding it and provide them with appropriate and realistic messages. Educational and entertainment programmes aimed at young people should carry anti-stigma and anti-discrimination messages.

Using Mass Media

The use of mass media is important for creating an enabling environment for reducing stigma and discrimination. The mass media should be invited to put the issues out in the public domain for debate, as well as to highlight inequalities and instances of discrimination. The campaign should call for action on each of the issues identified above. In addition, emphasis needs to be placed on appropriate language for reporting on HIV/AIDS, as negative words and expressions can reinforce HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.

Specific media events include:

1. Op-eds by prominent people to be placed in national and international media to address how stigma and discrimination affects different sectors. These could be from heads of State, leading business leaders, United Nations (UN) heads of agencies and UN ambassadors.

2. Personal reflections by prominent people on the WAC slogan, Live and let live. Prominent people from different walks of life could be approached for their thoughts on the issue of stigma‹e.g., heads of State and government, UN heads, writers and musicians.

3. Use of major sporting events, such as cricket, football etc. The campaign will approach different sporting events for endorsements of the World AIDS Campaign and statements from sports stars on stigma and discrimination.

Documenting Acts of Stigma and Discrimination

The campaign should encourage documentation of stigma and discrimination. The websites of institutions working on HIV/AIDS should be encouraged to carry a page on stigma and discrimination, outlining the basic issue, programmes and projects, as well as successes and failures. These sites should also contain space for reporting on acts of discrimination.

World AIDS Campaign Web Site: Making Knowledge Available

The UNAIDS World AIDS Campaign website will contain all the briefing papers, background papers, documents, publications and other communication materials relating to the campaign. The website houses all UN documents relating to HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination, and it will draw upon other websites, as relevant. The UNAIDS home page will also carry different features on the issue, from time to time.

Internet-Based Discussions

Internet-based discussion forums on HIV/AIDS and stigma and discrimination should also be encouraged.