Alongside the fear that India may not be conducting enough COVID-19 tests, the pandemic triggered stigma and discrimination against individuals infected with or vulnerable to SARS COV-2 virus, may be further slowing down voluntary testing, suggests top scientist from the ICRM-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), who in a study ‘COVID-19 stigma: Correlates and Mitigation Strategies’ found that 80.5% of the recovered participants of the study — that was conducted in seven States across the country in 18 districts — reported to have experienced at least one form of stigma. Further 51.3% of the respondents from the community reported severe stigma attitude towards those diagnosed with COVID-19
“Education and need for psychosocial intervention to deal with the negative impact of the stigma on individuals and families affected by COVID-19 continues to be vital,’’ said Dr. Padmapriyadarsini C, director NIRT.
Testing for COVID-19 is very important for isolating individuals who test positive because that will help to reduce the spread of the virus in the community. It is also essential to alert the surveillance system of any mutation, clusters or rapid spread of the virus.
