Tackling HIV Stigma What works?

5 CONCLUSION: BUILDING A COMBINATION APPROACH TO STIGMA REDUCTION
5.2 A summary of recommendations for future policy and practice
1. All UK Governments should develop an
evidence-based strategy for reducing HIV
stigma which includes a range of
approaches to tackle the many different
factors contributing to stigma.
2. Funders in the UK and wider EEA should
invest in developing the evidence base for
effective stigma interventions by funding
stigma reduction programmes that
incorporate evaluation.
3. The European Centre for Disease Control
(ECDC) should work with governments to
support roll-out of existing proven stigma
interventions in Europe.
4. Social marketing and a mix of media
channels should be used as part of a
strategy to address HIV stigma as a way of
increasing public exposure to information
and messages.
5. Interventions designed to reduce HIV
stigma should be developed and delivered in
partnership with people living with HIV.
6. Criminal prosecutions for transmission of
or exposure to HIV should be ended across
the UK so that it is only prosecutable in
cases of intentional transmission.
7. The Government and the Equality and
Human Rights Commission should increase
awareness of the Equality Act 2010 and what
this means for employers, service providers,
public bodies and people living with HIV in
Britain. The Equality Commission for
Northern Ireland should work with the
Government to increase awareness of
corresponding laws in Northern Ireland.
8. Governments should review the impact of
their laws and policies on people at
increased risk of HIV, including gay and
bisexual men, black and minority ethnic
(BME) groups, trans* people, sex workers
and people who inject drugs, and take steps
to reduce structural inequalities for these
groups.
9. Local authorities in the UK must
recognise the value of HIV-specific services
in providing advice and support to people
living with HIV and should ensure that the
needs of people living with HIV are
considered in the shaping of the local advice
sector.
10. All young people should have access to
accurate information on HIV as part of a
comprehensive curriculum for PSHE and
SRE in schools. This should provide the
opportunity to discuss same sex
relationships, prevention of HIV and the
issue of stigma.
11. NHS commissioning bodies and relevant
health education bodies in the UK should
invest in a programme to reduce HIV stigma
in healthcare settings building on the
existing international evidence base.
12. UK Governments should consider the
role of the police force, the criminal justice
system and schools in a strategy for
reducing stigma. Learning from other
institutional contexts should be considered
in the development of a plan for tackling
stigma in these organisations.
13. Governments and other funders should
work with community organisations to
implement and evaluate a pilot for an HIV
stigma reduction programme within UK
faith-based settings drawing on existing
evidence.
14. Local authorities should maintain
investment in HIV support services as these
have a vital role in enabling people living
with HIV to manage their health and cope
with internal and external stigma.
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