Stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV remain widespread in our society, with attitudes showing little improvement over the past two decades.
This has been highlighted by the Chairman of the Fiji National HIV Outbreak Cluster Response Taskforce, Dr Jason Mitchell during fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan where he stated that the stigma may even be stronger today, partly due to the growing public association between HIV and drug use.
Dr Mitchell says this link unfairly fuels judgement and misconceptions, as many people with HIV contracted the virus through other means.
He also stressed that the stigma is misplaced and called for stronger efforts and targeted strategies to eliminate discrimination against HIV survivors and children of HIV-positive parents in society.
