Hesse
Minister calls for respectful HIV prevention

11/30/2022 at 1:10 pm

Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – Hessian Minister of Social Affairs Kai Kloss (Greens) is campaigning for a wider network of support services in HIV prevention. In order for existing proposals to be accepted, they must be low-threshold and barrier-free and adapted to the needs of those affected, Kloss said on Wednesday in Wiesbaden on the occasion of World AIDS Day on December 1. This must be done with respect for those affected, without taboos and without discrimination.

The minister warned that people with HIV are still being discriminated against and stigmatized in their daily lives. This puts psychological pressure on people, sometimes even avoiding necessary medical treatment. “Shame makes access to prevention, testing, and treatment more difficult.” These barriers need to be addressed as part of global, national and regional HIV strategies.

The Social Affairs Minister said that HIV prevention should be understood as a cross-sectional task. They affect professional actors such as health services, educational and migration institutions, municipalities, state and AIDS organizations and require strong networking between each other.

According to information provided by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Hesse is expected to see a total of around 140 new infections in 2021, ten fewer than the previous year. According to these figures, at the end of 2021 there were approximately 6,540 people living with HIV or AIDS in Hesse, of whom 730 were undiagnosed.