Stigma and Discrimination Based on HIV Status

People living with HIV can today lead healthy and long lives. Even though their quality of life has markedly improved in recent years thanks to innovative therapies, a major challenge remains: in everyday life, HIV-positive people are often confronted with stigma and discrimination.

What are stigma and discrimination?

With regard to HIV, stigma occurs when people are put into a negative bucket and judged solely because of their HIV infection. The term discrimination is a bit more concrete and describes the personal disadvantage experienced by individuals due to their HIV infection.

Where does this broad negative assessment of people with HIV come from?

The root cause of stigma and the resulting discriminatory behaviors often lies in the fact that a large portion of society still holds onto outdated images from the 1980s: gay HIV-positive men who contracted AIDS and could not be adequately treated at the time and died.

The knowledge about the current possibilities of innovative HIV therapies and what living with HIV actually means today has not yet reached everyone. As a result, some people still equate an HIV infection with a severely reduced quality of life, the onset of AIDS, and thus a death sentence, which is no longer the case. Thanks to innovative medications, people with HIV today can live well and for a long time.

Also, regarding routes of transmission, many people lack the right information. Consequently, prejudices and fears toward HIV-positive people persist. The fact is: these fears are unfounded, because there is no risk of infection in everyday life.

Internalized stigma

Stigma can not only come from outside; in people living with HIV it can also arise from within. If you blame yourself, feel shame, or judge yourself for the HIV infection, that is called internalized stigma. For someone living with HIV, having solid knowledge about HIV is very important to avoid internalized stigma and to accept yourself as you are — including living with the virus.

What are the effects of stigma and discrimination?

The results of the recently published research project “positive stimmen 2.0” by the German AIDS League show that stigma and discrimination against people with HIV can also affect their quality of life. More than half of people who are HIV-positive reported that prejudice against HIV affects their own lives¹.

Many people with HIV worry that people in their circle will learn about their infection. When there is concern that someone might discover their medications or observe them taking them, it can lead to actions aimed at hiding the HIV status.

For example, HIV medications are often kept hidden at home. Sometimes it goes so far that people panic at unannounced visits, because a bottle of medication left out could reveal the HIV infection. This can lead to a lasting, unconscious burden that negatively affects quality of life and mental health. By this point, it should be clear that this way of handling things is not conducive to long-term psychological well-being.

While some people manage a daily pill regimen quite well, for others a therapy involving regular injections may be a better solution. Knowing about these different treatment options is therefore of great importance, because it allows you to actively seek solutions and no longer have to endure mentally burdensome situations like hiding medications. If you speak openly with your doctor about it, you can jointly choose among the various therapy options the one that best fits your life and makes HIV a smaller part of daily life.

Finding a good way to live with HIV

It is advantageous for a person living with HIV to approach their infection openly and with confidence, thereby countering stigma and discrimination. Not everyone can or wishes to do this, which is completely normal. When worries and fears come into play, it is important to stay vigilant and speak openly with your healthcare provider.


Additionally, you can review the diverse therapy options together with your physician and discuss whether there is a treatment that better fits your life and is easier to integrate into everyday routines.

For more information about living with HIV and personal stories from people living with HIV, visit www.livlife.de
Supported by ViiV Healthcare
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