Diversand: HIV stigma in Andorra is easing, but prevention remains vital

On World AIDS Day Diversand highlighted a progressive decline in stigma toward people living with HIV and welcomed the weakening of the long-standing association between the infection and the homosexual and LGTBI communities. The group noted that, while eight new positive cases have been detected in Andorra this year and 2024 figures point to a downward trend in new diagnoses, prevention remains essential.

Isabella Vargas, president of Diversand, said breaking the historical link between the disease and the community “is not easy,” despite growing social awareness. The organisation published a summary on social media outlining scientific advances since the stigma took hold in the 1980s, and stressed that people on effective treatment can lead fully normal lives. “There are many advances in medication and, with good follow-up, the message is clear: undetectable equals untransmittable,” she said.

Vargas pointed to signs that public perception is changing, citing queries received in recent years — for example, about whether a person taking PrEP could come to work in Andorra — and said such questions are increasingly resolved rather than used as grounds for exclusion. “It seems this is no longer an impediment. In the end, it would be discrimination,” she observed.

At the same time, Diversand warned that overt discrimination has often been replaced by invisibility. “We do not have cases of discrimination against positive people, fortunately. But there is also little opportunity for that discourse to arise, because what exists is an invisibilisation,” Vargas reflected.

The organisation underlined that making these realities visible is essential to advance rights, equality and public health. Continued education, breaking taboos and ensuring that people with HIV are recognised and treated with full dignity remain ongoing challenges, as does sustaining prevention efforts given that most transmissions still stem from unprotected sex.