For 63% of French men and women, HIV status is an important criterion for deciding whether or not to have a romantic relationship. The reason given is fear of being infected with HIV. It is one of the data that emerges from the CSA survey carried out in 2021 for Crips Ile-de-France (Crips: Regional Center for AIDS information and prevention). Data showing that forty years after the beginning of the epidemic, despite the great progress in access to care, discrimination against people living with HIV is persistent.
What is serophobia?
These behaviors have a name: let’s talk about serophobia to qualify fear, aversion, or prejudice towards people living with HIV (PLHIV). They translate into a wide variety of situations.
For Florence Thune, CEO of Sidaction, the fight against serophobia is an integral part of the strategy against HIV: “In France today, serophobia is the biggest obstacle to people’s quality of life and health” explains to Lose.
“We have treatments that have made great progress, which allow people to live with HIV, but many people stress that they face discrimination. We know that the impact on mental and physical health can be detrimental. »
She points out more and more worrying figures every yearas shown in the latest Ifop poll for Sidaction in March 2022: 23% of young people interviewed believe that the virus can be transmitted by kissing an HIV-positive person.
47% of French people today believe that there is no cure to prevent the transmission of HIV. This is demonstrated by the latest Crips-Ile-De-France survey by Harris Interactive and published for December 1, 2022: less than one in three French people say they have heard of PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis which allows people who do not have HIV/AIDS to avoid becoming infected during unprotected sex, and TaSPantiretroviral treatment as prevention, which allows an HIV-positive person not to transmit the virus.
The fault according to Florence Thune to the lack of information for the general public: ” As there is less and less talk of HIV, what remains are old fears and fantasies. » And this also has an impact on the health of people who do not know their HIV status and who dare not get tested for fear of hearing bad news: “On the one hand, they will tell themselves that it doesn’t concern them, on the other, if they imagine they have an HIV-positive announcement, sometimes they get stuck in the 80s and think they are going to die »complains Florence Thune.
At work, at the doctor’s office, in the entourage… the many faces of serophobia
Emmanuel is president of the Aides Bourgogne-Franche-Comté association. Now 27 years old, discovered his HIV status in 2018. On December 1 of that year she agreed to testify and appeared on the front page of a local newspaper. “My first bout with serophobia was the next day when a colleague refused to shake my hand “, he confides to us.
“It was ignorance with a touch of homophobia behind it. This small act shocked me at the time and reinforced my idea that it is necessary to talk about it and fight against discrimination. »
Together with many other Aides activists, he embodies the new campaign of the “Militer, Agir, Transformer” association.
In a survey by Sida Info Service conducted among people living with HIV in 2019, 67% of respondents have already felt discriminated against by announcing that they are HIV positive. In what context are these oppressions exercised? It is paradoxically in the medical environment which are more frequent : 59.1% of respondents mention a HIV-phobic interaction with a healthcare professional.
Even Emmanuel paid the price:
“A little over a year after my testimony, I was confronted with serophobia in the healthcare system. A nurse had to take a blood gas sample from me and put on an extra pair of gloves. I expected to be serophobic in everyday life… but in the hospital? »
The second context of serophobic discrimination is the private context, the close entourage, thus pushing people living with HIV to hide their state of health, reinforcing their isolation and the feeling of stigmatization: 48.8% of respondents reported being discriminated against or rejected by friends or family. Finally, work is also a field where HIV-related discrimination occurs.
How to reduce serophobia
The fact of stop transmitting the virus from the moment you are in treatment does not seem to reduce serophobic discrimination, the Sida Info Service survey also notes: “The fear of contamination despite an undetectable viral load in the HIV-positive partner remains a factor of rejection or flight for more than half of the respondents (54.6%) and 21.7% still do not want to decide on the matter”.
Florence Thune is also reserved on the slogan “Undetectable = Intransmissible”, used precisely to speak of an HIV-positive person who has an undetectable viral load thanks to his treatment and who can have sex without a condom without the risk of transmitting the virus. .
A slogan too little understood by the general public, according to her. “If this basic information were conveyed better, yes, it would avoid this serophobia, it would reassure people a little bit more to get screened. »
Florence Thune calls for major new information campaigns to reduce misconceptions about people living with HIV in society: “Targeted prevention is useful, but general prevention campaigns are also needed. And why not, we are crazy, let’s update sex education sessions! »
A recommendation which is ultimately in line with the strong demand of the general public which, according to the latest Crips Ile-de-France survey, is pending a strengthening of prevention in schools (58% of those interviewed affirm this) and an increase in communication and prevention campaigns in the media (54%).
Photo credit: Anna Shvets via Pexels
Source: Madmoizelle
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
