Anti-gay stigma dominated mainstream response to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Now he is urging leaders to combat homophobia that mirrors the response to the current monkeypox outbreak.
Most of the monkeypox cases in the US are between men who have sex with other men.
Fauci said the country must “get rid of anything that even suggests a little stigma” about the disease.
Fauci served as President Biden’s chief medical adviser during the 1980s, when HIV and AIDS were a growing concern.
keep your eyes on the reality, said Fauci, who is also director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. You fight the virus. You don’t stigmatize the people who are infected with it. The community needs to reach out to you. “You make it easy for them to get testing, treatment, and vaccinations, instead of making it difficult for them to find out how to go about getting those things.”
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization designated monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. More than 70 countries have been affected, and officials are considering declaring a health emergency in the U.S., according to The Washington Post.
There have been about 3,600 monkeypox cases in the United States during this current outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A death hasn’t been reported as a result of it.
