Research vital
There is a call for local research to be done on the stigma and discrimination around key populations, those groups which are vulnerable and most at-risk with respect to HIV.
This country’s leading expert on HIV/AIDS, Dr. Carol Jacobs, suggested that there is a dearth of information in that respect and the gap needs to be plugged. Referring to the National HIV/AIDS Commission’s 2017 report on HIV knowledge, attitude, belief and sexual practices, Dr. Jacobs noted that the stigma and discrimination questions referred primarily to issues around people living with HIV and not to attitudes to the key populations which include sex workers, men who have sex with men, and transgender people. Her comments came as she addressed attendees at the 65th anniversary ceremony of the BFPA, formerly the Barbados Family Planning Association, at the Radisson Aquatica on Saturday evening.
“I would encourage both BFPA and the National HIV/AIDS Commission to collaborate on research which focuses on the stigma and discrimination, specifically around the key population. This would provide broad-based evidence, which would then be used to drive rights-based policies and programmes,” she stated.
Noting that having sexual rights adds to the freedom, equality and dignity of all people, she said the task for BFPA and similar non-governmental organisations must be to change behaviours in a holistic way, opening the eyes of the wider community to the importance of human rights in every aspect of their lives.
Meanwhile, touching on the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), she noted that the World Health Organisation only recently released statistics showing that more than one million new cases of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomonas and syphilis are contracted every day. Dr. Jacobs explained that Barbados is not immune to this trend, noting that there have been increases recorded in these four infections in this country. In that vein, Dr. Jacobs, a former Chairman of the National HIV/AIDS Commission, said provision of information on condom use is therefore “doubly important”.
“The evidence in the HIV/AIDS Commission’s 2017 Knowledge, Attitude, Belief and Practice (KABP) Report, looking at persons living in Barbados between the ages of 15 and 49 years, revealed that among other things, 42 per cent of those surveyed have used a condom the last time they had sex, which in the converse tells us that 58 per cent did not use condoms the last time they had sex. Only 40 per cent knew that STIs were transmitted by casual contact. Looking back 15 years to 2004, the Commission’s KABP survey’s figures on condom use were very similar. In that survey, 37 per cent used a condom every time they had sex,” she noted.
Adamant that these behaviours need to change, and that they cannot continue to use the traditional approaches, Dr. Jacobs said faith-based organisations also have a role to play. She made the point while noting that more than 70 per cent of those surveyed were religiously affiliated. That fact is “a piece of information which we ignore at our peril,” she argued. She said it is often presumed that the faith-based community would be unwilling partners because of their views on condom use. To that end, she said the faith-based community must be considered a critical ally in any campaign on healthy lifestyles, including sexual and reproductive rights.
“My experience in the National HIV/AIDS Commission over eight years was one where we forged strong and effective partnerships with the faith-based community. It was a partnership where the Commission respected the Church’s teachings, but relied on them in the context of HIV and AIDS, to instruct on care and compassion, which are so critical to eradicating stigma and discrimination. In turn, we asked that they accept that those of us in the field of HIV/AIDS would deal with the public health dimensions of HIV education in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections, in which condom use is a major component,” she added. (JRT)