Búsqueda personalizada

MAC AIDS Fund Reveals Startling New Research

In one of the first-ever global surveys of public perceptions and attitudes around HIV and AIDS, the MAC AIDS Fund has unveiled new research which back ups an increasing worrying trend in attitudes towards HIV and AIDS.

The survey, commissioned by the cosmetics brand, included 4,510 interviews across nine countries, conducted last September.

The findings show that while most people know that AIDS is fatal, many mistakenly believe there is currently a cure for HIV.

Across all countries, nearly two in five (42%) hold the misperception that AIDS is not always fatal or are unsure.

Ninety-three percent of British respondents do not rank HIV/AIDS as a top national health concern, even though new HIV diagnoses in the UK have nearly tripled over the past 10 years.

The results were presented at a MAC AIDS panel discussion hosted by broadcaster Paul Gambacini and FT journalist Andrew Jack at City Hall.

Nancy Mahon, executive director of the MAC AIDS Fund, says while there's been major development in anti retro viral treatments HIV and AIDS aren't about to be cured over night.

"Globally for every one person that receives ARV therapies, 33 are infected," she told GaydarRadio.

"So we're really not going to either cure or treat our way out of the illness. We really do need to double our efforts around prevention."

While 54% of respondents in the UK do not understand that AIDS is always fatal, the misperceptions grow among those nationals who do not hold a college degree. They are twice as likely as their educated counterparts to believe there is a cure for HIV/AIDS.

People seem believe the lack of access to treatment is a barrier to stemming the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Seventy-six percent of global respondents report limited ability to get the latest drugs or treatments for HIV/AIDS to be a problem that contributes to the spread of the disease.

Opinions from the UK slotted lack of access to treatment behind only stigma and shame as the top contributor to the spread of HIV.

People believe treatment is more widely available than it is. Nearly half of respondents in all countries believe that most people diagnosed with HIV are receiving treatment, when in fact only one in five people who needed treatment received it in 2006.

Formal education makes a difference in the UK, where people without university degrees are more likely than their educated counterparts to believe most people with HIV are receiving treatment.

Prejudice, fear and stigma continue to exclude people living with AIDS from the mainstream.

Across all countries, majorities are not comfortable interacting on intimate levels with people who are HIV positive: Nearly half of people are uncomfortable working alongside those who have the disease; 52% do not want to live in the same house with someone who is HIV positive; and 79% are not comfortable dating someone who has HIV or AIDS.

In the UK, 80% of people are not comfortable with the idea of dating someone who has HIV or AIDS and women are more comfortable than men going to the same doctor as someone with HIV or AIDS.

"One of the issues we were really trying to tackle today was the stigma around being gay and being HIV positive, and how people are dealing with that," said Nancy.

"One of the big 'take aways' from today was that what might have worked for the founding generation in the 1980s and 1990s is not working with young gay men today," she adds.

"{It's about] Empowering gay men or men who have sex with men (if they don't identify as gay or bisexual) to be able to come up with successful prevention messages."

"We're beyond the era where AIDS is a death sentence but we're clearly in an era where the sooner you are diagnosed and get treatment the better you health outcomes you're gonna have."

Despite holding onto stigma, people understand all segments of the population are at risk to contract HIV.

Three in five (60%) global respondents recognise 'responsible' people can contract HIV, yet more than one-quarter believe you can only get the disease from 'sinful' behaviour.

However, age seems to magnify stereotypes in the UK; those over 45 who are nearly twice as likely as younger respondents to believe that you can only get HIV/AIDS from sinful behaviour (15% vs. 8%) and are more likely (58% vs. 37%) to believe that men who have sex with men are likely to be a affected by HIV.

"We really do in the UK need to redouble our efforts and really talk openly about sex and who's having sex and we have in the UK - as in other countries - seen a resurgence of HIV infection in gay men, particularly young gay men," added Nancy.

Gender roles and corresponding discussions of safe sex with a partner are seen as contributors to the spread of HIV.

Seventy-three percent of people in all countries report that a problem contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS is that women find it too difficult to discuss safe sex with their partners.

In the UK, however, the difficulty men face in discussing safe sex is seen as a bigger problem than for women in the spread of HIV.

The MAC Fund was established in 1994 to support men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS globally. To date the fund has raised $115 million exclusively through the sale of MAC's VIVA GLAM lipstick and lipglass, donating 100% of the sale price to fight HIV/AIDS.

The forum today, which was attended by the National AIDS Trust, the African Policy Network and UNAIDS, also discussed ways of getting the message out the to the population.

"We really need to look to the media both through public information campaigns and also integrating HIV positive people and HIV awareness into regular television shows," says Nancy.

"One way might be to get together an media advocacy group to work with various television channels to advocate for HIV awareness and HIV positive characters. I know it's something we've done in the United States both proactively and reactively," she added.

Author: Joanne Oatts

GaydarNation