HIV-related knowledge and stigma--United States, 2000.

An essential component of efforts to prevent new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in the United States is the use of voluntary HIV counseling and testing by persons at risk for HIV, especially members of underserved populations (1). To increase the number of persons at risk for HIV who receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing services, barriers to these services must be identified and removed. The stigmatization of persons infected with HIV and the groups most affected by HIV, including men who have sex with men and illicit drug users, is a barrier to testing (2,3). Measuring public attitudes and knowledge about HIV transmission to determine the prevalence and the correlates of stigmatizing attitudes is important for guiding efforts to remove barriers to HIV prevention. This report describes the results of a national public opinion survey conducted through the Internet to measure indicators of HIV-related stigma and knowledge of HIV transmission. The findings indicate that most persons do not have stigmatizing views.