Attitudes to HIV are slow to change

Two-thirds of people in Britain agree that most people with HIV “can work like anyone else”, with only 8% disagreeing, according to a recent survey by the National AIDS Trust (NAT).

But Public attitudes towards HIV, which polled more than 2,000 adults around the country, also found that around 40% said they would feel uncomfortable working with someone with HIV.

And more than a third (35%) of respondents did not realise that workplace discrimination against people who are HIV-positive is illegal under the Disability Discrimination Act.

The survey suggests that there has been some improvement in attitudes towards people with HIV in recent years. Around 57% or respondents surveyed in 2000 said that people who had been infected with HIV only had themselves to blame, but this figure fell to 44% in 2005.

“The survey shows that the majority of people have supportive attitudes to HIV-positive colleagues in the workplace,” said NAT chief executive Deborah Jack. “But it also reveals continuing high levels of ignorance, which must be addressed through workplace HIV policies and training.”