Asiatere, der er smittet med hiv, diskrimineres stadig, nogle gange så brutalt, at de og deres familier udsættes for vold, dokumenteres det i en rapport, der blev præsenteret mandag.
BUSAN, 29 August 2011: The report entitled the People Living with hiv Stigma Index: Asia Pacific Regional Analysis launched on the fourth day of the 10th International Congress on aids in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), held in Busan, Republic of Korea.
Although data in the analysis often differs widely depending on country context, the analysis shows that stigma and discrimination remain rife across the region as a whole and are evidenced in many environments, including family and community life, as well as employment and health care.
For example, the study found that high percentages of people living with hiv had lost jobs or income in the last 12 months based on their hiv status: from 16 per cent of those surveyed in Fiji to 50 per cent in Cambodia. Elsewhere, people have experienced being refused the opportunity to work – from 9 per cent in Bangladesh to 38 per cent of those surveyed in the Philippines.
Stigma and discrimination based on hiv status, sexual orientation or lifestyle choice is unacceptable and hampers the aids response
Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS Executive Director, comments: “Stigma and discrimination based on hiv status, sexual orientation or lifestyle choice is unacceptable and hampers the aids response. 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,”
Nine-country analysis
The report is a synthesis of nine country studies conducted across the Asia and the Pacific region — Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Burma, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand — and provides the first large-scale regional comparison of standardized hiv-related stigma indicators.
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.
The report shows discrimination is a reality for all ages. Up to 35 per cent 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 Burma up to 45 per cent of those surveyed said they had experienced such discrimination.
The Stigma Index initiative is a collaboration between the Global Network of People Living with HIV, the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and UNAIDS.
