People living with HIV continue to experience high levels of stigma and mental ill health, a government survey has concluded.
The research by the UK Health Security Agency found one in 25 (4.3%) of people living with the virus had been verbally harassed because of their HIV status in the past year, and a similar proportion (4.3%) felt family members had made discriminatory remarks.
The Positive Voices survey 2022 of 4,618 people diagnosed with HIV also found high levels of mental ill health in this community.
The survey, which polled people between April 2022 and March 2023, found that one in three (32.1%) reported low self-esteem because of their HIV status.
One in seven (13.7%) worried about being treated differently to other patients by healthcare staff. One in 10 (10.4%) had not shared their HIV status with anyone aside from healthcare staff. Almost half (45.1%) reported feeling ashamed about their diagnosis.
Higher levels of stigma were also reported among younger people, women and people who identified as trans, non-binary or in another way.
Overall, 22% reported current symptoms of either anxiety or depression. Of those reporting symptoms, 49% had been diagnosed with a mental health condition.
On top of this, very high levels of a history of experiencing physical and sexual violence were also reported.
More than one in four (25.9%) people reported having experienced physical violence. Of these, 9.4% thought that the physical violence was because of their HIV status.
Clare Humphreys, consultant in health protection at the UKHSA, said: “Stigma, anxiety and depression not only affects the welfare of people with HIV, but also stops people from accessing HIV care and treatment as well as accessing healthcare more broadly.
“It is important that we continue to address the issues raised in this report in order to support the needs of people with living HIV and also help achieve the government’s ambition to eliminate HIV transmission by 2030.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
