Living with HIV

HIV Disclosure

Disclosing your status to others can be daunting and people who answered the Positive Perspectives survey confirmed that stigma, whether it is from others or subconsciously self-imposed, can be a challenge. The Positive Perspectives survey asked PLHIV about different experiences they have faced with stigma and their thoughts on what could be done to minimise its impact.

Self-stigma was a dominant feature within the results, where it was defined as when an individual starts feeling frustrated, angry, experiencing low self-esteem and/or lack of confidence in their future.

1 Find out how the 1,111 PLHIV who took part in the Positive Perspectives survey have experienced stigma and how they believe it can be reduced 1

In the last 12 months …

27%

of participants have experienced the impact of self-stigma

How can stigma be prevented?

64%

of participants believed that better education of the general public can reduce feelings of stigma

  • 2 See below how this 27% (297) of PLHIV who have been impacted by self-stigma differs by region, gender, age and sexual orientation:
  • 2 See below how this 64% (709) of PLHIV who believe that better education of the general public can reduce feelings of stigmatisation differs by region, gender, age and sexual orientation:

Region

Age

Gender

Sexual Orientation +

Applied filters

Region

Age

Gender

Sexual Orientation

0%

0%

0%

0%

The Positive Perspectives survey report

You can download the Positive Perspectives survey report here. This report is focused on the attitudes and perspectives of PLHIV around diagnosis, disclosure, treatment and communicating with your doctor. New partner/significant other perspectives coming in 2018!

DOWNLOAD REPORT

(PDF 8MB)

Hear from the members of our Positive Perspectives survey expert panel and Andrew Murungi, ViiV Healthcare's scientific lead on the project, as they outline what they thought the key takeaways were from the disclosure results:

Angelina Namiba, UK

Discover Angelina’s thoughts on the disclosure results

Brent Allan, Australia

Hear Brent discuss the ‘layers’ of disclosure

Andrew Murungi, ViiV Healthcare

Andrew talks about the key findings about disclosure

Perceptions from participants that took part in the Positive Perspectives survey

  • “In the last 5 years, my HIV has allowed me to form stronger relationships”

    Male, 18-34, Germany

  • “Stigma surrounding the disease is similar to that of the 1990s”

    Male, 35-49, USA

  • “There is still stigma with being HIV positive. I still have to hide my diagnosis”

    Male, 50+, UK

  • “No one wants to be with an HIV person sexually”

    Female, 35-49, USA

Your stories related to disclosure

Who did you turn to when you were diagnosed?

See who Paida turned to

Mavis kept Paida’s HIV diagnosis from her for about 2 years. When Paida found out about her status, she thought that people were going to hate her and not want to be her friend.

VIEW PAIDA'S FULL STORY

What sort of stigma do you feel, living with HIV?

Find out about Juno’s experience

Stigma is still a dominant issue in the lives of PLHIV. Juno and Sophie discuss the ways that they fight stigma on a daily basis, even to the extent of pealing labels off of treatment bottles.

VIEW JUNO'S FULL STORY

Where is HIV medication going?

See what Sarah thinks

Sarah’s recently changed her HIV medication and says that she and the doctor are happy. She discusses how medication is getting better and how PLHIV can enjoy life because you know it is not over.

VIEW SARAH'S FULL STORY

References:

  1. Murungi A, et al. Experience of living with HIV: Diagnosis & Disclosure – findings from the Positive Perspectives study. Presented at the IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2017), 23‑26 July 2017, Paris, France. Abstract: WEPED1423