Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance focus 04/21/2010

Pacific fight against AIDS hampered by shame, ignorance

focus 04/21/2010 MAJURO — In the staunchly Christian Pacific islands, the battle to combat HIV/AIDS is struggling to overcome shame surrounding the disease, which results in many patients being ostracized by their families. An AIDS conference bringing together representatives from US-affiliated Pacific island nations and territories in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro last week heard of the discrimination faced by those living with HIV/AIDS. “People think everyone with HIV is a sinner and that God will not forgive them,” said Cathy Samuel from the atoll of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. Samuel’s family was forced to move to another island to get away from what she described as the “embarrassment” of having a family member who died from AIDS. Another woman from Chuuk, who did not want to be named, said she was forced to move to Guam when her husband died after infecting her with HIV.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100421com3.html

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