NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

John E. Fogarty International Center
for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences

NIH NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, August 30, 2001

Contact:
Jennifer Cabe or Irene Edwards
(301) 496-2075

"STIGMA AND GLOBAL HEALTH: DEVELOPING A RESEARCH AGENDA"
AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
September 5-7, 2001
Bethesda, Maryland

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland -- A May
8, 2001, article in "The New York Times" discusses the
plight of miners with AIDS in Botswana. The article
states, "Typically, miners who are believed to be infected
are shunned. They sit alone in buses that carry workers to
the pit. They eat alone in the company kitchens because
their colleagues are afraid to share utensils or crockery
with them." Although this article focuses on individuals
with one disease in one country of Africa, it could be
describing the isolation and humiliation that faces people
with stigmatizing conditions in many parts of the world.

To explore the relationship between stigma and public
health, examine the social and cultural determinants of
stigma, explore how stigma prevents people from seeking or
getting treatment for disease, and determine future
research opportunities, the Fogarty International Center
(FIC), in partnership with other National Institutes of
Health (NIH) Institutes and Offices, U.S. agencies, and
domestic and international organizations (see list below),
announces a major international conference oriented toward
developing a research agenda that will lead to the
mitigation of the impact of stigma on individuals and
societies. Such an agenda would be expected to include
activities designed not only to better understand stigma's
social and cultural determinants but also to identify and
test ideas for effective new behavioral interventions.

Stigma has been defined as a deeply discrediting attribute
that reduces a person to one who is in some way tainted and
can therefore be denigrated. It is a pervasive problem
that affects health globally, threatening an individual's
psychological and physical well-being. It prevents
individuals from coming forward for diagnosis and impairs
their ability to access care or participate in research
studies designed to find solutions. Much attention has
been paid to the plight of the stigmatized, including those
with AIDS or suspected to have AIDS, those with leprosy,
and those suffering from mental health disorders. But
stigma goes beyond these disorders to include some health
conditions that are no longer stigmatized in the developed
world but continue to have an impact in resource-poor
countries.

Action has been slow in coming. Little is known about how
pervasive the problem of stigma is in the developing world
and about how health care systems can work to tackle its
negative effects on individuals and societies.

"Stigma and Global Health: Developing a Research Agenda,"
will be held at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel on September 5-
7, 2001. The Conference will bring together health
professionals, scientists and media and policy experts from
around the world, including more than 90 from the
developing world, to summarize current knowledge of stigma,
identify existing gaps, and determine the directions for
social science and behavioral research to illuminate the
issues. It will focus on a small group of conditions,
including HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, mental health, alcohol and
drug abuse, and physical anomalies, but will otherwise be
far ranging in scope. This conference is especially
notable because it is the first to address the relationship
of stigma to global health, including infectious and non-
infectious diseases and behavioral and physical conditions,
rather than only one category of disease, and because many
of the participants will be from the developing world,
where stigmatized conditions represent an enormous burden.

Discussions will address stigma both domestically and
internationally. Meeting topics include:

--Definitions, Background, and History of Stigma

--Examples of Health-Associated Stigma: AIDS, Epilepsy,
Schizophrenia, Physical Anomalies

--Stigma and Public Health

--Impact of the Media

--Social Considerations

Background papers, final conference agenda, a list of all
speakers and moderators, and directions to the Bethesda
Marriott Hotel can be accessed at:
http://www.stigmaconference.nih.gov.

NOTE: The standard registration fee for this conference is
waived for members of the press. However, space is limited
so please RSVP and provide your press credentials when you
register for the conference by calling Jennifer Cabe or
Irene Edwards at the FIC Communications Office at 301-496-
2075.

CONFERENCE PARTNERS

NIH:
--Fogarty International Center
--National Cancer Institute
--National Human Genome Research Institute
--National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
--National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
--National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
--National Institute of Mental Health
--National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
--National Institute of Nursing Research
--National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
--National Institute on Drug Abuse
--Office of the Director: Office of AIDS Research, Office
of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, and Office of
Research on Women's Health

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Global Forum for Health Research
March of Dimes
National Science Foundation
Pan American Health Organization
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
World Health Organization

FIC is the international component of the NIH. It promotes
and supports scientific discovery internationally and
mobilizes resources to reduce disparities in global health.
NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Press releases, fact sheets, and other
FIC-related materials are available at
http://www.nih.gov/fic.