On World AIDS Day 2014, SANAC launched a national campaign to address social perceptions that continue to fuel stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV. Themed ‘I Can’t Change My HIV Status But You Can Change Your Attitude’, the campaign aims to mobilise South Africans to engage in dialogue and debate on social attitudes towards people living with HIV, while encouraging greater openness and disclosure by people living with HIV about their status.
The findings of the Stigma Index survey show that while South Africa has made good progress in dealing with HIV related stigma, approximately one-third of people living with HIV who took part in the study still reported some form of stigma. The study shows that internalized stigma and stigma related to TB are still a major challenges in South Africa.
The new campaign, still under the banner of the broader “Zero Stigma. Zero Discrimination” campaign, aims to encourage people who are HIV positive or have TB, and have experienced some sort of discrimination due to their health status, to phone the Legal Aid advice line for professional legal advice. It also encourages people who are living with HIV and need support to phone the AIDS helpline for advice and counselling.
