By Andrea Downer, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica is part of a regional initiative to reduce stigma and discrimination against persons living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. While efforts to combat this challenge both in Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean are still in their early stages, anti-HIV-related stigma and discrimination efforts have already begun to reap some success.

Annesha Taylor, one of two HIV- positive Jamaicans who went public about their status in September this year as part of the Ministry of Health's HIV anti-stigma campaign, believes that while stigma is still a problem in Jamaica, it is declining somewhat.

"I think it (the HIV-related stigma) is gradually cutting down based on the campaign that the MoH has put out. We have gone to a number of workplaces to speak about HIV and help them (the workplaces) write their (HIV) workplace policy."

Annesha said while many HIV- positive persons are not disclosing their status to Jamaica and by extension, the rest of the world, anti-stigma efforts have resulted in many of them being comfortable enough to disclose their status to smaller groups.

"Most people are (now) more comfortable talking to their family about their status even if they don't go public to the entire Jamaica. They are disclosing their status to smaller groups, such as in workshops," she stated.

She pointed out that HIV- positive people have a key role to play in reducing the level of HIV-related stigma that is directed at them.

"They have to accept that they are living with the virus and they have to move on and get on with their lives."

The Ministry of Health's current HIV anti-stigma campaign is just one of the initiatives aimed at reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination being pursued in Jamaica.

JN+ an eight-year old organisation comprising 260 members who are HIV-positive, has been making some progress in documenting and investigating HIV-related discrimination against its members. However, the organisation's advocacy officer, Tony Hron, revealed that an accurate picture has not yet emerged from the data that they have collected so far.

He said JN+ has been collecting complaints of HIV-related discrimination informally since 1997 when the organisation was founded. However, he said that the organisation only started doing so in an organised manner, recently.

"The formal, systematic process began in January 2005 and since August 2006, there have been 49 cases of HIV-related discrimi-nation cases reported to us," he disclosed.

According to Mr. Hron, the health sector accounted for 61 per cent of the 49 reports of HIV- related discrimination.

He said it is possible that the number of cases reported in the health sector is higher than other sectors because adherence counsellors who know the complaints reporting procedures are present at the public treatment sites.

worst offenders

"It is hard to say if the health sector is the worst offender as the level of discrimination in other sectors is not known," Hron explained.

However, he said most people are not aware that they can formally report cases of discrimination, and so, the problem is much bigger than what is reflected in the number of reported cases.

According to Mr. Hron, more persons should be able to make reports of HIV-related discrimi-nation soon, as an online HIV-related discrimination reporting feature would be a part of a website that JN+ should launch by the end of 2006.

"There will be a short online reporting form that anybody can fill out and submit. The agency, (JN+) will contact them and follow-up on their complaints," Mr. Hron disclosed.

He said the reports from the website would be fed into the national programme's monitoring and evaluation database.

The Ministry of Health also recently began to document and investigate reports of discrimi-nation.

Acting Director National Aids Committee, Vivian Gray, says the National Aids Committee, the Ministry of Health, and the Jamaica Aids Support for Life, has begun making attempts to capture reports of discrimination, since June 2006. However, he said very little data have been collected so far.

"It is just in its infant stages. So far, we don't have a full picture of how widespread it (discrimination) is and which sectors are the worst offenders," he stated.

However, he said eventually, the Health Ministry hopes to get an idea of the type of discrimination that people face and from what sectors.

Decreasing HIV-related stigma and discrimination is now being given priority by the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), a regional body which was set up in 2001 and given the mandate to scale up the region's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The group is in the process of developing a website which will place special emphasis on the importance of decreasing HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

stigmatised

Volderine Hackett, senior project officer at PANCAP, said fear of being stigmatised prevents people from going to get tested for HIV and drives the disease under-ground.

"Research has shown that stigma and discrimination are the major driver of the disease, therefore, any prevention and support programme has to tackle stigma and discrimination," she stated.

PANCAP is hosting a series of seminars aimed at raising the awareness of the media of the issue and forging a partnership with media workers and employers to assist in reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the region. The first meeting was held in The British Virgin Islands in November and another one is to be held in Barbados in early December.

The above article was commissioned by Panos Caribbean.

"Most people are (now) more comfortable talking to their family about their status even if they don't go public to the entire Jamaica. They are disclosing their status to smaller groups, such as in workshops," she stated.