The City of West Hollywood is seeking feedback about stigma experienced as a result of sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. The C\city’s Social Services Division is conducting a short survey as part of efforts to implement the city’s “HIV Zero Strategic Plan.” Community members, regardless of HIV status, are encouraged to provide feedback. A goal of the survey is to understand how stigma impacts access to care and overall health and wellness. The survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/hivzerosurvey.
In addition to the online survey, staff members from the city’s Social Services Division will host two HIV Zero “pop-up” events in October. The first will be held on Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. at the West Hollywood Library, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. The second will be on Oct. 18 from 8 to 10 a.m. adjacent to Starbucks, at 8595 Santa Monica Blvd. at Westmount. Community members are invited to stop by; there will be free giveaways for people who complete surveys.
Stigma and discrimination are potentially the most difficult aspects of HIV/AIDS to address. For people living with HIV, stigma is related to negative psychosocial, physical and mental health issues such as social isolation, anxiety and depression. Among HIV-negative gay and bisexual men and transgender women, sexual orientation-based stigma and gender identity-based stigma can negatively affect mental health, coping skills and willingness to disclose important health information, which has an impact on healthcare access in everything from screenings to interventions, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). The prejudice and discrimination resulting from stigma can be overt, such as barriers to healthcare coverage or employment termination, or subtle, such as social exclusion.
A goal of the City of West Hollywood’s HIV Zero strategic plan is to build an inclusive community that supports underserved groups and honors the contributions made by people living with HIV. Addressing stigma is vital to “getting to zero,” and the community’s input is an essential component of achieving that goal.
For additional information about the city’s HIV Zero strategic plan visit www.weho.org/services/social-services/aids-hiv-resources.
Prep is a HIV drug cocktail to protect HIV negative people from each other. The drop in new infections started 20 years ago when new medications brought viral loads down to undetectable levels. The lack of new HIV infections is from hiv positive people taking medications over the last 20 years. Not from a few people taking Prep .Using Truvada as a party pill that someone can take now and again for guilt free sex is asking for trouble. .I’m not a fan of AHF. But as a shareholder, Michael Weinstein did attempt to tie executive compensation at HIV drug… Read more »
Shawn, and Creative One, I’ve sparred with Hank about PrEP since 2013, when I was one of the first people to get on it, a little over a year after it was FDA approved, and most people didn’t know what it was. Around that time (or a year or so after), he had his prejudices against it, thinking that advocating it was going to result in a spike of non-HIV STI’s. We’ve seen a rise, and my argument is that it is attributed to people who are now being tested on a regular basis, but weren’t before. In other words,… Read more »
Randy: Not sure how you are arguing that you have sparred with me about PrEP. I’m an HIV positive man who is an avid supporter of PrEP, with the caution that it, like the medication I take (Genvoya), may have a long term impact on parts of one’s body that we won’t know for years, and with the caution that it won’t protect one from infection with other sexually transmitted diseases if used without a condom. So far, the long-term effects of PrEP appear to be minor. According to AIDSMAP: “Use of tenofovir (which is part of Truvada, the drug… Read more »
I took the online survey. I found it single dimensional as it only asks questions about stigma from medical providers and PrEP and PEP. It is silent about major life altering stigma most people face: employment, housing, finances, education, social life and dating. These are major factors in overall health and wellness. Let’s not forget about mental health which can be damaged by stigma. Your story and the name of the program appears to mischaracterize the effort.
I second Shawn’s comment. AHF has lost their focus and cannot be viewed as a leading organization in preventing the spread of HIV. The head of AHF is more interested in steering the non-profit into LA real estate issues than the core concern that created the organization in the first place.
How about wehoville stop its practice of running anti-prep ads from AHF? I mean seriously their has got to be a reality check here. PREP works. And weho-ville accepting money from AHF for their anti-prep campaign is shamming PREP