Category Archives: Stigma

Black health, Health Alerts, HIV Activism, HIV testing, Stigma

February 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

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Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. CDC data shows that Black/African American are at a higher risk for HIV infection as compared to other races and ethnicities. Why? Because these communities are impacted by demographic factors such as discrimination, stigma, and institutionalized health disparities—all of which affect their risk for HIV.
National Black H I V aids awareness day is February 7th. A black man sits with two black women
If you reside in Pennsylvania, you can get a free HIV self-test kit delivered through the mail. Go to www.getmyHIVtest.com to order your kit today.
If you live outside of PA, you can go to the CDC’s testing locator website at https://gettested.cdc.gov/.
Knowing your status will protect you and your partner’s health.
HIV, Stigma

Pennsylvania governor signs law punishing HIV transmission with up to 10 years in prison

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From LGBTQ Nation…

Pennsylvania’s Gov. Tom Wolf (D) just signed a new law that makes it a felony to pass on a communicable disease when they “should have known” that they had it, the HIV Justice Network reported.

Opponents of the law worry it will be used to punish people with HIV or other STDs who unknowingly transmit it to sexual partners. Such HIV criminalization laws have disproportionately been used to target Black men and other men of color.

The law, known as HB 103, punishes people with up to 7 years in prison and $15,000 in fines for “expelling” saliva, blood, or another bodily fluid onto a police officer.

a man behind bars in prison

“As a person living with HIV who was born and raised in Pennsylvania, the passing of HB 103 serves as a reminder that as we get closer to ending the HIV epidemic, we have a long way to go to end HIV stigma and the criminalization of people living with HIV,” said Louie Ortiz-Fonseca, Director of LGBTQ Health & Rights with Advocates for Youth.

Read the full article.

 

HIV, HIV Activism, Stigma

Tell Me About It: busting myths and celebrating progress

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From aidsmap.com…

Tell Me About It: HIV Conversations in the Community is a six-part podcast series of honest conversations, sharing accurate and trustworthy information about HIV and sexual and reproductive health in a friendly and open way.

Tell Me About it: Busting myths and celebrating progressIt’s a personal, engaging and honest look at what it really means to live with HIV today, and how that’s changed significantly over the years. Each episode shares developments in prevention and treatment that allow people living with HIV to live long and healthy lives free of fear, and shatters some of the most damaging myths about HIV and its impact on sex, life expectancy, starting a family, staying well, mental health and public attitudes.

It was inspired by the conversations that people living with HIV often find themselves having with those unaware of how HIV has changed in recent years: How did you get it? Aren’t you just a drain on NHS resources? Can I catch it off you? Will you die young?

Hosted by writer, researcher, international performance poet and TEDx speaker Bakita Kasadha, each episode is a conversation between people sharing their experiences of HIV. Most pair a person who is living with HIV and another person who does not have the virus.

Read the full article on aidsmap.com.

HIV, HIV care, Stigma

New National Challenge to Reduce HIV-Related Stigma and Disparities

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From POZ.com…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched The HIV Challenge, a national competition to engage communities to reduce HIV-related stigma and increase prevention and treatment among racial and ethnic minority people. The HIV Challenge is part of a new partnership between the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) and the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH).

 

Through this challenge, HHS is seeking innovative and effective approaches to increase the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people who are at increased risk for HIV or are people with HIV. The HIV Challenge is open to the public, and HHS will award a total of $760,000 to 15 winners over three phases. Phase 1 submissions are open from July 16, 2021, through September 23, 2021.

“HIV-related stigma is one of the reasons why prevention and treatment options, such as PrEP and ART, are underutilized,” said Assistant Secretary for Health, Rachel L. Levine, M.D. “The latest science shows that people living with HIV who take the proper medicine as prescribed and get and keep their HIV at an undetectable level do not transmit HIV to others.

Read the full article.

HIV, Stigma, Women's Health, Youth Health

HHS Prohibitions on Sex Discrimination in Line with Supreme Court Decision

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From HIV.gov...

The Department of Health and Human Services announced that the Office for Civil Rights will interpret and enforce Section 1557 and Title IX’s prohibitions on discrimination based on sex to include: (1) discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; and (2) discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Section 1557 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in covered health programs or activities. The update was made in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County and subsequent court decisions.

“The Supreme Court has made clear that people have a right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex and receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. That’s why today HHS announced it will act on related reports of discrimination,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences. It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone – including LGBTQ people – should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period.”

Discrimination in health care impacts health outcomes. Research shows that one quarter of LGBTQ people who faced discrimination postponed or avoided receiving needed medical care for fear of further discrimination.

Read the full article on HIV.gov.

HIV, Research, Stigma

Stigma Remains a Barrier in HIV Prevention and Treatment

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From newswise,com…

Stigma and discrimination, such as homophobia and racism, impede engagement in HIV prevention and use of biomedical tools for treatment in both HIV-negative and HIV-positive gay and bisexual men, according to a Rutgers study.

The paper, published in AIDS and Behavior, examined the impact of stigma on HIV-related outcomes among gay and bisexual men in the U.S.

man standing alone on a dock

Despite recent advances in HIV prevention and treatment, and access to biomedical interventions that can hasten the end of the HIV epidemic, gay and bisexual men continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus.

Read the article on newswise.com.

Prevention, Stigma

Ending the HIV Epidemic: Culturally Attuned Educational Materials for American Indians/Alaska Natives

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From HIV.gov…

As one of several Indian Health Service activities supported by the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund (MHAF) in Fiscal Year 2020, the Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) is currently leading a project focused on creating  culturally attuned HIV education materials—including print, digital, and video formats—for both American Indian and Alaska Native patients and the healthcare providers who serve them.

UIHI , located in Seattle, Washington, works to provide information to and assist urban Indian-serving organizations to better the urban Indian community’s health nationwide. Seven out of 10 American Indians and Alaska Natives currently live in urban settings away from federally defined tribal lands. Since 2016, UIHI has led several projects that promote culturally attuned HIV prevention and treatment.

Among the new materials being developed under this project, in March 2020, UIHI released a short film, Positively Native , in which long-time HIV survivors Bill Hall (Tlingit), Shana Cozad (Kiowa), and Hamen Ides (Lummi) discuss their lived experiences with HIV stigma, discrimination, and advocacy. Along with the film, UIHI released an accompanying toolkit that includes a facilitator’s guide, discussion questions, and a presentation on the basics of HIV. The organization presented Positively Native to an audience of 38 people at the International Indigenous Pre-Conference on HIV/AIDS in July 2020.

Read the full article on HIV.gov.

Commentary, COVID-19, Stigma

Fauci: Gay people lifted stigma with ‘incredible courage’ in HIV/AIDS epidemic

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From the Washington Blade…

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday the visibility LGBTQ people brought to themselves during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic helped change the tide for public perception.

Fauci made the remarks during the daily White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing when responding to COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on black Americans, saying the disease has “shed a light” on health disparities in the United States much like HIV/AIDS did with LGBTQ people.

“During that time, there was extraordinary stigma, particularly against the gay community,” Fauci said. “And it was only when the world realized how the gay community responded to this outbreak with incredible courage and dignity and strength and activism — I think that really changed some of the stigma against the gay community, very much so.”

See the video here.

Commentary, HIV Activism, Stigma

Challenging HIV Stigma

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From Sean Strub,  POZ Magazine’s founder…

Biomedical advances against HIV since the dawn of the epidemic have been nothing short of astonishing. An almost always fatal disease is now, for those with the privilege of access to treatment, a manageable chronic illness, treated with a single daily pill. A person who acquires HIV today has every reason to expect to live a normal life span.

Yet with such astonishing success in treatment, why is HIV stigma worse today than ever before? Why do so many long-term survivors, including many who were exceptionally open about their HIV-positive status for years, find they must now keep it a secret, sometimes going deeply into closets they thought they had left for good years ago?

Many people—especially those who do not have HIV—find these questions startling. That’s because they remember the days when one had to wear a spacesuit to visit a person with AIDS in a hospital or was afraid to eat in a restaurant with gay waiters or refused to touch a person they thought might have the virus.

Read the full article.

HIV Activism, Prevention, Stigma

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in Pennsylvania: ‘We’re making progress but…’

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From the Pennsylvania Capital-Star…

Black people make up 12 percent of Pennsylvania’s population of about 12.8 million people. But they accounted for 49 percent of HIV diagnoses in 2018 — and to Rep. Brian Sims that’s “racist as hell.”
“A racist system produces a racist result. You don’t need to look at the data to know that,” Sims, D-Philadelphia, said Wednesday, adding, “If medicine only reaches people who look like me, in a state that doesn’t look like me, we’re doing something wrong.”

Jeannine Peterson, CEO of Harrisburg’s Hamilton Health Center, speaks during a Capitol press conference on Wednesday, 2/5/2019 (Capital-Star photo by John L. Micek)

Sims, one of two openly gay House members, was one of several lawmakers and public health advocates who were on hand during a Capitol press conference Wednesday for the 21st annual observation of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in Pennsylvania.

Read the full article.