Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 2007 The Washington Post Company Contact: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491 Author: Geeta Rao Gupta FIGHTING THE STIGMA OF AIDS First lady Laura Bush rightly pointed out in the June 25 news story "Beyond Iraq: The First Lady, Back in Africa" that the stigma attached to having AIDS is an enormous barrier to fighting Africa's pandemic. Stigma and discrimination reduce the effectiveness of billions of dollars spent on HIV/AIDS programs because infected people are often reluctant to avail themselves of these services. Until recently, the global health community and development workers lacked a concrete set of tools to effectively identify and tackle stigma. To address this, the International Center for Research on Women, the Academy for Educational Development and our partners developed a tool kit, based on stigma research in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia, that offers strategies and practical skills -- from the perspective of the "stigmatizer" and the "stigmatized" -- for HIV-affected communities, health-care providers and local media to reverse the devastating effect that the stigma has on people infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS. T If U.S. and other world leaders want HIV/AIDS programs to be effective, more resources and interventions must be put in place to combat the stigma. These efforts will go a long way in battling AIDS. Geeta Rao Gupta President International Center for Research on Women Washington ns