Mr. Jimmy Goulding:

I thank the committee for inviting me back to speak about HIV stigma and discrimination. The stigma and discrimination that comes along with HIV has a knock-on effect for those of us living with it. It continues to ensure people living with HIV are marginalised. In June 2006, I took a case to the Equality Authority against a health provider who refused to treat me because of my HIV-positive status. He believed I needed to be treated by a specialist who worked specifically in HIV area. I won a prima faciecase in 2009, as the Equality Tribunal believed I had been treated differently to someone who was HIV-negative or someone whose HIV status was unknown.
Along with the decision in my favour recommendations were made at the tribunal, including that universal precautions should always be used when a health provider works with any patient. Universal precautions assume every patient may have an infectious illness. Exercising these precautions ensures every patient is protected and treated equally. Another recommendation was that all health care staff should be educated and trained on HIV transmission. From working with people living with HIV I can say these recommendations have not been put in place. For many of us living with HIV the places where we experience HIV stigma and discrimination the most is with health care providers. We are still given the last appointment of the day, in the belief this will lessen the chance of cross-infection from other patients. This is the case with my chiropodist at present.
Many people living with HIV have not yet tested. Many do not disclose their HIV status because of the stigma. This needs to be taken into consideration by health care providers, who should use universal precautions. Those of us living with HIV are also aware of nurses and doctors outside of HIV clinics who double-glove when dealing with us. In HIV clinics they do not double-glove as they do not see us as infectious but this still happens today with other health providers.
Many health professionals feel the need to ask people living with HIV how they got it. This question would not be asked of somebody else with a chronic illness. Many health providers feel they have a right to know this personal information. Positive Now works closely with Dublin AIDS Alliance staff, who will say that one of the most frequent questions they hear from those who are newly diagnosed is whether they know of a HIV-friendly dentist or GP. These individuals learned before they became HIV-positive about the stigma which exists. These questions are still being asked in 2014. Why have the Equality Tribunal's recommendations not been implemented? In June 2010 I dropped a case against the HSE asking it to enforce these recommendations. The Government must help tackle HIV stigma and discrimination to improve the lives of people living with HIV.