Advocacy, Stigma, and HIV: Where Are We Today?

When we think about HIV, what do we associate with it? Many of us will think about the AIDS epidemic in the US that took off in the 1980s, or perhaps the tangential relationship with the LBGQT community. While tremendous progress has been made in the science of HIV treatment through the development of better anti-retroviral therapies which have significantly reduced AIDS-related deaths and improved long-term health outcomes for people living with HIV, stigma continues to exist. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at HIV and how advocacy efforts continue to address associated stigma.

We are taking a deeper look at this topic with friend of Vynamic Greg Langan, Program Manager for the South Jersey Regional Partner of the Northeast/Caribbean AIDS Education & Training Center. Greg holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work and Master’s Degree in Public Health from Temple University. In addition, he is an Adjunct Professor of Health Communication with The College of New Jersey. As a self-identified cisgender gay man, his passions reside in stigma reduction and the elimination of health disparities for folks within the LGBTQ community.