A Government campaign to tackle the stigma surrounding Aids and HIV has been described by the UN spokesman on the virus as "one of the most imaginative and creative initiatives undertaken by a western government".
Stephen Lewis, the UN secretary general's special envoy for HIV in Africa, was speaking at the unveiling yesterday of the campaign, Stamp Out Stigma: Ending HIV and Aids Discrimination, at Government Buildings.
He said there was nothing like it in his home country Canada, or in any G8 country.
A collaboration between the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Foreign Affairs and a number of stakeholders, it will aim to tackle the stigma still experienced here by people who are HIV-positive. This will involve an advertising campaign on radio, television and billboards as well as work with employers, schools and healthcare professionals.
It follows a speech by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to the UN in June in which he called for steps to make societies more open and less judgmental as a primary step in tackling HIV.
The latest figures from the National Disease Surveillance Centre show there were 169 new diagnoses of HIV in the first six months of this year, with a total of 4,251 people HIV-positive at the end of June.
Speaking yesterday, Mr Ahern said: "We are all collectively responsible for ensuring everything in our power is done to stop the scourge of Aids."
He commended the work of Prof Michael Kelly, professor of education at the University of Zambia, who has worked extensively on Aids education Africa.
"His message, that education is the most effective social vaccine in preventing the spread of Aids and in addressing HIV-related stigma, is having far-reaching implications in Africa and has informed the Irish Government's policy on HIV." He also announced that from now on the Irish Government will spend €100 million a year on HIV and other communicable diseases.
According to Breda Gahan, HIV and Aids specialist with Concern, there is still widespread discrimination against people with HIV, including in health service settings, in the workplace and against the children of people with HIV.
"HIV attacks the body. Stigma attacks the spirit. Sadly both can kill," she said, saying fear of being "found out" prevents many people either being tested for the virus or seeking treatment.
Mr Lewis, describing the campaign as a "unique intervention on the part of the Irish Government", said stigma was the "pernicious dimension of this pandemic bedevilling all other efforts against it.
"This stigma is rooted in a perverse moral judgment about sexuality and we cannot subdue this disease ultimately until stigma is confronted. People are simply afraid to come forward for treatment in case they are found out to have HIV. Treatment exposes the reality of living with the disease and people prefer to perish rather than let it be known they have it."
Prof Kelly, speaking at the inaugural World Aids Day lecture hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs last night, said that from time immemorial, the history of contagious diseases had been a history of mistrust of the sick, avoidance measures, and exclusion, intertwined with a history of compassion and solidarity.
"But with HIV and Aids, the stigma seems to be different, more universal, more comprehensive, more bitter and soul-destroying, more stubborn to root out. It leaves no area of life untouched."
