HIV Stigma Still Hurts More Than the Disease

General
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We’ve advanced so much in HIV treatment. With proper therapy, people living with HIV can lead long, healthy lives.

Yet socially, we still seem stuck decades behind.

I recently read a report by The Times of India about a 10-year-old boy in UP had to take his mother’s body by himself for autopsy and last rites after her death because people in the community stopped speaking to them once they knew she had HIV.

That’s what stigma looks like in real life.

HIV doesn’t spread through touch, proximity, or last rites. Medically, we know this. But many families still face isolation at the very moment they need support the most.

As healthcare students and professionals, our role isn’t just treatment and prescriptions. It’s also education and empathy. Sometimes correcting one myth can protect a family from a lot of unnecessary pain.

Because no one should suffer alone simply due to a diagnosis.

MBH/PS

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Healthcare professionals must fight HIV stigma with education and empathy, as misinformation causes harmful isolation despite medical facts.

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HIV stigma is there but then with awareness now a days intercourse with many men or women as per orientation and using drugs via injection for fun is also a cause for rising HIV.so knowledge should be spread to teenagers, truck drivers and who are living alone despite being married or alcohol dependence

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Stigma hurts more than disease; education and empathy matter.

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That a child had to perform last rites alone shows how deeply stigma can strip people of basic humanity.

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yes its sad

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Science has moved forward, society must too. Awareness and empathy are just as important as treatment

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Awareness lectures or camps should be organized in order to fight the disease stigma. People who aren’t aware of disease needs to educated first

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The community sure does need education in this regard

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