HIV Stigma and Discrimination Persist, Even in Health Care

HIV is different from many other diseases. Finding out that one has HIV presents complex physical, emotional, social, and legal concerns that do not arise when one is tested for other conditions, including other communicable diseases. Advances in treatment have dramatically transformed the lives of many people living with HIV, but understanding and acceptance within U.S. society have not improved as dramatically. Almost 30 years after the onset of the epidemic, HIV stigma and discrimination-fed largely by ignorance and animus-persist and continue to have a forceful impact on people living with HIV.