EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said on Tuesday that the prejudice and stigmatization against HIV-positive people and their families must be broken down at a European level. In statements after a visit at the Gregorios Pulmonology Clinic in Larnaka General Hospital, Kyriakides said that she was informed by the doctors and nursing staff about all the issues and challenges faced by people with HIV and their families. "The aim is to break the prejudice and stigmatization against people living with HIV and their families at European level, so that these people can have access to all services and workplaces, like the rest of the world", she added. Kyriakides thanked both the medical and nursing staff of the Clinic, who have been embracing HIV-positive people for years, for the excellent work they are doing. "There are certainly challenges and that is why we are here to address them and solve the problems and for all of us to realize that we must finally speak without stigma, withou t fear and prejudice about people who are HIV positive", she continued. The Commissioner was asked whether the decrease in the number of HIV-positive people that seems to have been observed in Cyprus last year is also recorded in other European countries. There are, she said, variations and the numbers keep changing. "What we all need to realize, and this was the aim of my visit today, is that we cannot remember that there are HIV-positive people or that the HIV exists just on December 1 each year, on the occasion of World Day. Prejudice and stigmatization must be addressed with providing information daily and raising awareness, and this must start at a young age and be implemented everywhere, in workplaces, in medical facilities, in hospitals, everywhere," she noted. This, she continued, is "a huge effort and within the framework of the European Health Union, a specific program, the EU for Health, is being developed to deal with all diseases. Today I came to see and congratulate the medical team that par ticipates in these programs and see how we can strengthen them." On his part, Giorgos Shiakallis, Infectious Disease doctor at the Clinic, thanked the EU Commissioner for her visit and noted that perhaps the biggest challenge we face in 2024 is to provide the right information on how the HIV infection is today. Source: Cyprus News Agency
News From Türkiye