HIV was called a plague of 20-th century, however, it matters now too. Virus is widely spread and it frightens most of us. There is a million HIV-positive people living in Russia. Every hundredth in St.Petersburg is HIV-positive. This fall l conducted a study how HIV-negative people treat HIV-positive. Output is the fact that people are badly inlight^ned. Few of them could name all the ways of getting infection, they only new about blood and sex.

Main sources of information are papers from medical institutions and social advertisement. Also, people search the Internet. According to interviewed drugs addicted, homosexuals, people of low social position and those who live promiscuous sex life are at risk. But occasionally they told that nobody is insured against the infection.

More than a half of respondents don’t use condoms every time while accept that it is the only way to prevent infection, besides propaganda of knowledge. Women of 30-44 and 45-65 treat to HIV-positive more cautiously than men of the same age. Almost nobody would trust a HIV-positive babysitter or doctor.

Herewith women are better informed than men. Also, people with higher education tend to treat HIV-positive more loyal than people with secondary education, the same trend is for young people (19-29) and elder generation respectively. Women are afraid of infection more than men. Some people are not ready to have a HIVpositive in their surrounding. Much employers demand to tell about one’s HIV-status before hire.

Society just cannot live with them and feel safe. It is vital to modernize sources of information and establish simple and high-quality propaganda. According to the results, discrimination of HIVpositive people in St.Petersburg does exist. Mainly, because of misinformation.

Created by Zelyanina Svetlana