The application of the HIV stigma index in the Western Highlands and Chimbu Provinces of Papua New Guinea: Summary Report

The research aimed to provide data on how stigma and discrimination create barriers to accessing services and how they impede the scaling-up of delivery of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Papua New Guinea. Another aim was to detail the levels of stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the different provinces and regions.

There are differing experiences of PLHIV based on gender, sexuality or gender identity. The research aimed to determine and understand the contributing factors to stigma and discrimination faced by PLHIV through a research project that valued differences across gender and sexuality and generated information about those different experiences.

The international Stigma Index was the tool used to identify those situations that created heightened risks for PLHIV.