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barricades or facility sterilization. Simply put, she could have — and should have — been treated like any other patient.
Instead, this woman, living with the medical, psychological and social realities of a chronic, life-threatening disease, was treated without any
I Opinion
awareness of her suffering or her needs.
Why did this happen? Because of unreasonable fear on the part of health care workers that the woman would spread HIV to other patients or staff. This underlines the pressing ■need for education about HIV infection and AIDS among health care providers in Virginia.
Clinical personnel, especially those who rarely encounter patients with AIDS, still commonly react in ways that isolate and stigmatize them. The clinic staff should have understood and implemented standard and appropriate, but not discriminatory, infection control procedures — without postponed visits, hallway conversations, barricades or clinic “sterilization.”
The woman who experienced this discrimination is heterosexual, white and married. Many other people with AIDS are even more at risk
94.8%