UN: AIDS Response 'Under Threat' Due to Stigmas

Image copyright: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images (Dec. 1, 2009)

The Facts

  • The United Nations AIDS program, UNAIDS, says that the global response to the disease is "under threat" due to a backlash against lifestyles that stigmatize groups most at risk of contracting the HIV infection.

  • Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, said that countries with laws targeting the LGBTQ community, sex work, and drug use are seeing a rise or plateau in new infections.


The Spin

Left narrative

The erosion of human rights in many countries is not only a significant moral concern, but it also undermines the progress made toward ending AIDS as a public health threat. Countries are passing inhumane laws against the LGBTQ community, further stigmatizing a marginalized group that's at greater risk of contracting HIV. Countries should focus on helping communities by fighting AIDS instead of stigmatizing vulnerable groups.

Right narrative

Political correctness poses a far greater threat to public health and ending diseases like AIDS than these laws do. Groups like the UN and other so-called "public health" organizations promulgate this worldview but it's not correct. Promoting a healthy and moral society will go a long way toward ending AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.


Metaculus Prediction


Political split

LEFT

RIGHT