Dear editor
I am writing to comment on Kontomanolis et al’s recent article entitled “The social stigma of HIV-AIDS: society’s role”.1 Although I applaud the authors for writing about this important topic and I wholeheartedly agree that HIV-related stigma is devastating to women living with HIV, I want to point out that using stigmatizing language when writing an article about HIV-related stigma is counterproductive.
The first sentence of the Abstract is medically incorrect and fuels the myths associated with HIV and AIDS. AIDS is not a “devastating and deadly disease”. It is a diagnosis, a syndrome, a collection of diseases. One must be careful when referring in speech or writing to HIV and AIDS to ensure that terminology is medically correct, debarring social stigma. Research articles need to reflect the differences between HIV and AIDS rather than confuse the terms.
There are also added stigmatizing phrases and terminology in the article. For example, the authors pointed out that “Stigma is a multifaceted social structure that has its own pathway; it starts with labeling, separation, status loss, and ends up in discrimination” (p. 112), yet labels are used throughout the article. Tagging women as “AIDS patients” or “HIV positive women” further stigmatizes, dehumanizes, and reduces them to a diagnosis, which adds to the stigmatization of this population.
To reduce stigma and discrimination, it is vital that researchers use medically appropriate and preferred language, that is, the language preferred by the population of people that the researchers are describing. The use of “people-first language”, as suggested by the Denver Principles and Dilmitis et al, puts the person before the diagnosis.2,3 Using “women living with HIV” or “women diagnosed with HIV” is preferred and less stigmatizing. People-first language emphasizes the person not their illness, diagnosis, or label.
Over 35 years into the HIV epidemic, researchers and health professionals are still using stigmatizing language regarding this population. As a scientist and as a woman living with HIV for 32 years, I urge the scientific community to rethink the use of language and how it affects HIV-related stigma.
Footnotes
Disclosure
The author reports no conflicts of interest in this communication.
References
- 1.Kontomanolis EN, Michalopoulos S, Gkasdaris G, Fasoulakis Z. The social stigma of HIV-AIDS: society’s role. HIV AIDS (Auckl) 2017;9:111–118. doi: 10.2147/HIV.S129992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Denver Principles Statement from the Advisory Committee of People with HIV/AIDS. 1983. [Accessed August 28, 2017]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/surviv-ingandthriving/education/documents/OB2216-DenverPrinciples.pdf.
- 3.Dilmitis S, Edwards O, Hull B, et al. Language, identity and HIV: why do we keep talking about the responsible and responsive use of language? Language matters. J Int AIDS Soc. 2012;15(Suppl 2):17990. [Google Scholar]