Global Conversation

With the rise of antiretroviral drug treatment (ART) has there been a related reduction in HIV-related stigma? This was the question behind the thesis presented at the end of the past academic year by development studies concentrator Melanie Zuch ’10. The findings she presented in “’A Virus and Nothing Else’: The Effect of Antiretrovirals on HIV-related Stigma,” include a series of links – and passionate advocacy of increased availability of the drugs. “ART targets stigma at its sources in three different ways,” she said: by dealing with utilitarian concerns, by normalizing the condition, and by its association with greater testing and counseling and therefore greater dissemination of HIV-related knowledge.