Working together to stop HIV/AIDS stigma

TORONTO – February 28, 2008

Today ACCHO released a new fact sheet on HIV/AIDS stigma affecting African and Caribbean communities in Ontario.  How we can stop HIV/AIDS stigma in Toronto’s African and Caribbean communities is the second fact sheet from the African and Caribbean Stigma Study. 

A team of researchers from ACCHO, the University of Toronto and other institutions in and around Toronto conducted the study from 2004 to 2006.  The purpose of the Stigma Study was to understand the role of HIV stigma in Toronto’s African and Caribbean communities.  The research was part of ACCHO’s work to implement the strategy on HIV/AIDS for African and Caribbean communities in Toronto.

The new fact sheet resulted from two forums organized by ACCHO in 2007 to present the results from the Stigma Study, and discuss actions and strategies to address HIV stigma.  ACCHO organized one of the forums for service providers, and the other for African and Caribbean communities in Toronto.  The actions and strategies outlined in the fact sheet are based on discussions in both forums.

“Stigma gets in the way of people’s willingness to get tested for HIV, and to use the programs and services that are available.  Stigma also hampers efforts to reduce or prevent the spread of HIV,” says Shannon Ryan, Executive Director of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention and an ACCHO member.

Wangari Tharao, ACCHO’s co-chair and one of the researchers on the Stigma Study, adds that “The fact sheet on how to stop HIV stigma in Ontario’s African and Caribbean communities is an excellent example of how ACCHO is engaging our communities in the response to HIV and AIDS.”

The Ontario HIV Epidemiologic Monitoring Unit estimates that, in 2005, people from Africa and the Caribbean comprised 14% of the roughly 25,000 Ontarians infected with HIV.

The fact sheet is intended for individuals, community organizations, service providers, researchers, policy makers and funders.

A community report from the Stigma Study is also available.  The first fact sheet – How African and Caribbean people in Toronto experience and respond to HIV stigma, denial, fear and discrimination - summarized some of the main findings from the Stigma Study.

The Ontario HIV Treatment Network funded research for the Stigma Study, while the Levi Strauss Foundation funded the knowledge dissemination activities.