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In a collusion of opinion and fact, this first-ever perception audit alsofound that 86 percent of adults in the United States, UK, France, Russia,China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa believe stigma and shame to be acontributor to the spread of HIV. Seventy-six percent report lack of access totreatment to be a problem as well.
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"Today, more than 25 years after the emergence of the disease, it isstartling to learn that facts about HIV/AIDS are still a guessing game formuch of the world and that many are still in the dark about the undeniablereality that HIV/AIDS shockingly remains a top global killer," said NancyMahon, executive director of the M-A-C AIDS Fund. "Social stigmas that plaguedus then are still limiting progress now. Understanding the insights from thisnew survey, however, is what will help take us to the next level of policy,prevention and care in the fight against AIDS."
To probe the "next level" in the solution to the global HIV/AIDS crisis,the MAC AIDS Fund gathered a group of policy experts, grassroots activists andfundraisers this morning in New York for a roundtable discussion, moderated byWilliam Holstein, a business journalist who writes for the New York Times andother top publications and is president of the Overseas Press Club Foundation.The six-member panel -- including Dr. Thomas Kenyon, Principal DeputyCoordinator and Chief Medical Officer in the Office of the U.S. Global AIDSCoordinator; Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of HIV policy for theKaiser Family Foundation; Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta, president of the InternationalCenter for Research on Women; Dr. Marsha Martin, director for HIV/AIDSprograms in the Oakland, Calif. mayor's office and a former HIV/AIDSadministrator for the Washington, D.C. Department of Health; Anthony Rapp,star of Broadway musical and motion picture Rent; and Mahon -- focused theirdiscussion on three issue areas: access to treatment, stigma and shame andwomen.
"As we examine the findings of the MAC AIDS Fund survey, it is importantto keep the broader context in mind -- that only one in five people who neededtreatment in 2006 received it; that countless people living with HIV havesuffered violations of their basic human rights because of their status; andthat today more women than ever before are living with HIV," said Dr. Gupta."It is only within that context that we can truly understand the devastatingimpact of the misperceptions that still persist, as well as benefits that canbe achieved through accurate information."
"HIV and AIDS is an issue that goes beyond the medical community, beyondeven the policy community. It is a disease that has permeated the very socialand cultural fabric of our lives," said Rapp. "Today's survey from the MACAIDS Fund is helping to tell a personal story and give a voice to the peoplewho are living with the disease every day."
In addition to the panelists, other HIV/AIDS activists, community leadersand business leaders were on hand at the roundtable event.
John Demsey, Group President for the Estee Lauder Companies and Chairmanof the MAC AIDS Fund said, "Today's survey release and discussion is atestament to the position that the MAC AIDS Fund has taken in the fightagainst HIV and AIDS -- challenging the status quo of the arena by askingtough honest questions and always proposing new approaches to help find asolution."
Survey Methodology
The survey was conducted during a two-week period in September 2007.Approximately 500 interv
