Trudy Simpson, Freelance WriterA NEW campaign to reduce local levels of stigma and discrimination against HIV-infected and affected persons and other socially vulnerable groups has been launched by the Jamaica AIDS Support (JAS).
A non-governmental organisation, the JAS provides the public with HIV prevention education and offers support to HIV-positive persons and their families.
The campaign is made possible through recent funding from the United Nations Global Fund on Tuberculosis, Malaria and AIDS and in partnership with the National AIDS Committee (NAC). It will use various media to promote messages aimed at helping people overcome fear and prejudice, which lead to stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive people, their families and other vulnerable groups such as female sex workers and men who have sex with men (MSMs).
Robert Carr, executive director of the JAS, said while tolerance levels among the public have been improving, the organisation still routinely receives reports of people being discriminated against, beaten or even stabbed, based on their HIV-positive status or because they are from certain vulnerable groups such as MSMs.
"As part of this campaign, we have added a new page to our website that will focus on stigma and discrimination against (the above groups)," said Dr. Carr. The website is www.jamaicaaids
support.com/humanrights.
"The web page will contain documentation of human rights violations against these groups and testify to instances of support and redress from the community or from key social institutions such as the police force or the public health care system," Dr. Carr added.
