Stigma takes centre stage at AIDS Conference in Mexico

By Chhay Sophal

Standing up for the rights of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and other vulnerable people remains at the forefront for HIV/AIDS activists around the world. Stigma and discrimination were critical issues discussed at the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City on 3-8 August, 2008. Although HIV/AIDS activists and policymakers have worked hard to sensitize the public and debunk inaccuracies about the virus, many PLHIV still face hardships even beyond their disease.

“In most countries, stigma against people living with HIV remains a grave challenge. One third of countries still do not have laws to protect people living with HIV…This must change,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his address at the opening session of the Conference on 3 August.

In his remarks, the Secretary-General focused largely on issues of stigma and discrimination, as he called on politicians around the world to “speak out against discrimination and protect the rights of people living with and affected by HIV, for schools to teach respect, for religious leaders to preach tolerance, and for the media to condemn prejudice in all its forms”. Mr. Ban who has met with his colleagues in the fight against HIV/AIDS as well as people living with HIV since taking his post as the UN Secretary General, also urged all nations to “live up to their commitments to enact or enforce legislation outlawing discrimination against people living with HIV and members of vulnerable groups.”

Expounding on this appeal, Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said the world must work harder to reduce such common challenge. “We must work much harder to fight stigma and discrimination, including institutionalized discrimination. In many countries, legal as well as social and cultural barriers prevent groups at risk from receiving the interventions and knowledge needed to reduce harmful behaviour, Dr Margaret said.

Dr. Pedro Cahn, the AIDS 2008 Conference Co-Chair, added that “along with many of you here, we have raised our voice against stigma and discrimination, denouncing social inequity as a major driving force of this human tragedy and speaking on behalf of thousands of HIV professionals from around the world”.

As the conference co-chair and International AIDS Society Governing Council Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Dr. Luis-Soto Ramirez, said in his opening session that stigma and discrimination “continue to hamper our progress against this disease.”

The world leaders also applauded the decision by United States Congress to re-authorize PEPFAR with 39 billion dollars for AIDS, an initiative signed into law by President G W Bush on 30 July. They also welcomed the news the United States has lifted its 20-year law banning PLHIV from entry into the United States.
At the end of the conference, on 8 August, delegates also called for the removal of laws that criminalize and stigmatize groups at risk for HIV. The New York Times quoted Edwin Cameron, a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals in South Africa, as saying that “criminalization is a poor tool for regulating H.I.V. infection and transmission.” According to the Times, Justice Cameron, who is living with HIV, said “let one of the conference outcomes be a major international push-back against misguided criminal laws and prosecutions.”

In an op-ed article in the Washington Times on 6 August, the UN Secretary General also said “Stigma remains the single most important barrier to public action. It is the main reason too many people are afraid to see a doctor to determine whether they have the disease, or to seek treatment.” Stigma, he said, is a chief reason the AIDS epidemic, the silent killer, continues to devastate societies around the world.