Anti-HIV treatment

HIV and discrimination

HIV is surrounded by stigma and people affected by the illness often experience discrimination.

Such stigma and discrimination can have very serious consequences, affecting the health and happiness of people with HIV.

These issues are considered in a lot of detail in a NAM booklet called HIV, stigma and you and you can read it online here. It’s going to be updated soon and it’s hoped that it will include short first-hand accounts from people who have experienced stigma or discrimination and how they’ve coped with it. If you’d like to contribute email info@nam.org.uk.

Recent research in east London shows that about a third of people with HIV have experienced discrimination because they have HIV. The longer a person had had HIV for, the greater the chances of them reporting discrimination. Discrimination was also more likely if a person’s appearance suggested that they had HIV – for example, if they had the fat loss or fat gain (lipodystrophy) that can be a side-effect of some anti-HIV drugs.

Discrimination was related to mental health problems, and worryingly, the researchers found that about half of those who reported discrimination said that it had come from a doctor, nurse, dentist or from somebody else employed in healthcare.

It’s important to remember that it is totally wrong to be discriminated against because you have HIV – in fact it’s illegal in the UK. It can be very distressing to experience discrimination and a good first step in reacting to it might be to tell yourself that what you’ve experienced was unjustified. Discussing your experiences with somebody you can trust might also help, and you might want to complain or take other action. The HIV, stigma and you booklet includes some useful information on organisations that can help you deal with discrimination, make complaints and get justice.