The role of sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention and control programs in reducing gender, sexual and STI-related stigma

Abstract

Stigma refers to socially undesirable attributes of individuals or groups, associated with isolation, rejection, and discrimination. Stigma is an essential contributor in the causal web of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that flourish within the global context of inequities associated with STIs: social class, race/ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Public health capacity to address the diverse pathogens associated with STIs – including HIV – has been astoundingly transformed by the basic, clinical, and translational sciences advances of the past half-century. Paradoxically, despite great strides in capacity to understand, detect, and treat, STIs remain key indicators of global health inequity that have worsened in recent years...