One Major Reason the AIDS Epidemic Isn ’t Going Away

It ' s a serious threat to progress in HIV treatment and prevention —and something we have the knowledge to stop, especially in health care settings.August 08, 2018It ' s a serious threat to public health and progress in HIV treatment and prevention —and something we have the knowledge to stop.A few years ago Dany Stolbunov, now 20, told his doctor in Ukraine that he wanted to go to medical school. He was sharing his ambitions with someone he admired and trusted, who he thought might believe in him, the person responsible for his care.“I told him I wanted to become a physician, too.”“You can’t be a doctor,” his doctor said. “You have HIV.”Dany was born HIV-positive, and his father died of AIDS when he was 8. That ’s when Dany learned he had the virus, too.His doctor ’s response wasn’t a revelation; it was discrimination. And it was related to a stigma that’s endemic in health care settings even today and a major barrier to HIV prevention and treatment services in every region of the world. Discrimination from the very providers trained to diagnose, treat, and help patients manage the physical, social, and emotional issues related to a highly-stigmatized chronic infection.Dany is part of a new generation of young people living with the virus who are becoming adults —and advocates for less discriminatory care.“We are the first generation born with HIV who are growing up and can openly speak about it,” he said at the International AIDS Conference ...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news