< Back

A woman sitting in a pink-walled room looking over her shoulder to her side

Heart of Stigma

AIM: To support stakeholders in the HIV response to scale up efforts to eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination

"Information is power. The more we know and understand about stigma, and what we are up against, the easier it will be to fight it."

Kate Thomson

Head of the Community, Rights and Gender Department, The Global Fund

HIV-related stigma and discrimination continue to be major barriers to ending AIDS as a public health threat. In 2020, the IAS launched the Heart of Stigma programme to bring attention to HIV-related stigma and the effectiveness of stigma-mitigation efforts.

It does so by:

Enhancing country leadership and exchange through existing platforms on HIV-related stigma and discrimination
Supporting those working on HIV-related stigma and discrimination at a national level to self-assess progress made in eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination and determine how to address outstanding gaps
Disseminating the latest evidence and best practices in elimination of HIV-related stigma and discrimination at a global level