HIV and Sustainable Development

Let's talk !

Earlier this year, before the High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in June, I wrote the following piece. I was motivated to share it on my blog, because for quite some time I have been hearing people discuss HIV like a thing of the past, something we no longer need to focus on or something that does not warrant attention at this time since "it's no longer a death sentence". But still, in recent research findings from the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life and Canadian professor Dr. Carmen Logie, there is still significant stigma attached to HIV infection. I had the privilege of collecting some of the data and when asked on a scale of 1 - 10 how open people would be to sharing eating utensils with someone who was HIV positive the answers were at the extreme end of the scale indicating that they would absolutely NOT share a fork, cup or other implements. 

Additionally, our discussions on sustainable development very much try to "broadbrush" everything. We want to ensure that there is a space for all and inclusion of all. However, I think it will definitely be helpful for us also to focus on individual chunks of the picture. What will this look like for all concerned, who will be affected, what are the implications of these suggestions? 

Working in HIV has taught me many things, including the fact that HIV is all encompassing. Any area of life you can think about impacts HIV infection or risk of infection in some way.

Here goes:

According to the Human Development Report 1996, published by the United Nations Development Program, “human development is the end — economic growth a means”. The notion of development as economic growth has long been replaced with indicators like   life expectancy, maternal mortality rates, access to education and personal income. In the same way that the existing paradigm of development encompasses    the economic, social, political freedoms of the individual, the HIV epidemic directly and indirectly affects these same categories.

While it may not always be explicitly visible, HIV has affected our development as a nation; and unless we achieve  the long envisioned enabling environment, which is characterized by equity and unencumbered access, it will continue to be a hindrance to sustainable development. Issues like stigma and discrimination for people who are living with HIV (PLHIV) may seem like something simple but has adverse effects on the individual and on society.The 2012 Stigma Index, which was a collaborative effort with a group of NGOs and funded by UNAIDS, revealed that 32% of females living with HIV lost a job or a source of income due to discrimination from coworkers; while the  corresponding figure for males is 25%. Meanwhile 20% of all respondents noted that they felt they had to stop working due to poor health. Neglect (30.7 %) and Isolation (15%) were among the most common forms of discrimination experienced.            

The stigma index corroborates reports from a 2012 study the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life commissioned to focus on human rights issues among HIV positive women, which found that the family, other HIV positive people and community members (geographic and otherwise) were also sources of stigma and discrimination and resulted in self stigma which affected personal development and self-­efficacy in achieving economic, social and political freedoms.