World AIDS day 2023: Let communities Lead

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HIV stigma, perpetuates inequality

Stigma befriends some diseases.In ancient times it was Leprosy, followed by Syphillis, and in the modern times HIV. In ancient times, individuals with a flat-nose, a tell-tale sign of leprosy, were disqualified from becoming priest. By 1450s, we feared and hid sexually transmitted syphillis. Advent of antibiotics and changing sexual perceptions could contain it in 500 years. Similarly, HIV AIDS took the mantle of a stigmatising illness in 1980s. Incurability, sexual transmission, and initial association with hispanics and homosexuality contributed to the stigma. There is a plethora of philately material on HIV AIDS and virtually none on syphillis. HIV AIDS philately is definitely one of the factors that helped reduce stigma in four decades of the disease.

We can reduce stigma by education, increasing interactions with individuals who have the condition, improving peer-support, and advocacy. Philately contributed in small part to improve awareness about HIV/AIDS. Countries introduced disease and its prevention in schools and colleges. Communication campaigns focussed on care and support behaviour. Effective treatments, and coming out in the open were other contributors. After 2008, postage stamps helped to improve interactions with the sufferers of the disease. Some postage stamps were now showing real human faces.

Reducing stigma

Recent postage stamps exhibit some stigma reduction measures. An important measure is solidarity amongst the individuals with the disease, and also within the society. Images of mass HIV/AIDS events, runs, marathons, concerts, help improve solidarity. Such images have also recently appeared on postage stamps.

Current acronym for a “person living with HIV” is PLWH. Public announcement by PLWH helps in reducing stigma. There is a Wiki-list of famous PLWH. Sharing of experiences by celebrities helps dispel myths about the illness and its transmission. Postage stamp from Guinea Bissau in 2012 presents this public disclosure concept.

Till date, we have documented about four instances of cure from HIV/AIDS. While these instances are rare, they indicate that HIV is not invincible. With about 38 million cases worldwide, UNAIDS is spearheading plan to “end the AIDS epidemic” by 2030. We are on an ambitious aim of reducing new cases by 90%. We can achieve this endgame by expanding drug-coverage, and effective pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Every year, we observe 1st December as World AIDS Day. Theme for 2023 is “Let Communities Lead”. This is not only to eliminate social inequalities, but also to have a community participation for equitable distribution of resources, treatments, and preventive measures. Today, we need to work to reduce inequalities (2022 theme) and participation of communities (2023 theme) to minimise roadblocks in the elimination pathway.