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The Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS) has launched a special issue, titled “Getting to the heart of stigma across the HIV continuum of care”, at AIDS 2022, the 24th International AIDS Conference.
The content of the special issue was guided by Guest Editors Lucy Stackpool-Moore (International AIDS Society, Switzerland, and Watipa, Australia), Carmen H Logie (University of Toronto, Canada), and Allanise Cloete (Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa).
Despite decades of scientific advances in HIV prevention and treatment, the failure to progress in the global HIV response directly connects to intersecting individual and structural stigmas and discrimination from service provision to service uptake. Research shows that HIV-related stigma acts as a barrier to accessing prevention methods, HIV testing uptake, treatment initiation, and adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Yet, the impacts of stigma and discrimination across the HIV care continuum are often overlooked.
This special issue draws attention to HIV-related and intersecting stigma and discrimination across the HIV prevention and care continuum, providing a state-of-the-field update about the latest concepts, innovative research methods, and strategies to reduce stigma and its harmful effects.
Taken together, the collection of articles offers insights into a range of health conditions and social identities that shape lived experiences of stigma through a variety of methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, systems mapping, and systematic review. Examples of resilience, good practice and community leadership are presented.
Efforts to reduce new HIV acquisitions and improve HIV prevention and treatment programmes will remain suboptimal if HIV-related stigma is considered in isolation. If progress in reaching HIV epidemic control is to continue, increased emphasis and funding must be placed on addressing stigma and discrimination and ultimately improving quality of life and access to healthcare for people living with and most affected by HIV.
Access the special issue here: https://bit.ly/JIAS_Stigma
The Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS) is the official peer-reviewed journal of the IAS. Founded in 2004, it is an open-access, PubMed- and Medline-indexed journal. JIAS articles are published online on an article-by-article basis. The journal’s primary purpose is to provide an open-access platform for the generation and dissemination of evidence from a wide range of HIV-related disciplines, encouraging research from low- and middle-income countries. In addition, JIAS aims to strengthen capacity and empower less-experienced researchers from resource-limited countries.
For more information, visit www.jiasociety.org.
