Thread by @jheighton3

What if @bcndp @CDCofBC are approaching this pandemic all wrong?

Drs Henry & Gustafson say fear of “stigma” is the reason for not releasing data.

Boom. There it is. The underlying driving force behind many #Covid19BC decisions.

But does it have to be this way?

A thread:
1/

Attaching stigma to an illness is a social construct. That means we have control over whether we do that or not.

There are many illnesses, even communicable ones, that have no stigma attached. Flu, colds, chicken pox, measles.

No one is “at fault” for catching/spreading.
2/

We also have illnesses where stigma *has* been attached. The HIV virus comes to mind. And that stigma proved to be damaging in so many ways. It’s taken many years of activism to reduce the stigma there.

How is it that public health has not learned from that experience?
3/

Where is our compassion? That is the crux of this.

If we were to approach this #COVID19 virus (and all viruses) with recognition of people’s humanity first, and not their diagnosis? If we were to recognize that this is just a virus that we all must fight?
4/

If we were to stand together in all of our efforts to combat the virus? How much more could we achieve?

With a common goal of eradicating #COVID19, as a united society, decisions could be more easily accepted.

Measures like:
- universal mask wearing
- testing
- quarantine

5/

Even #CovidZero would be more accepted if we were to approach this virus as a collective.

➡️ We do these things to help each other.

We all want to get back to living without fear. It can be done (see: New Zealand).

6/

Stigma, on the other hand, is an approach that places blame on individuals.

It implies that shame is involved with testing positive. That one would want to hide that fact.

That “privacy” is the number one concern.

7/

Stigmatizing #COVID19 does not recognize that this virus often spreads asymptomatically, that the person spreading is often unaware that they are infectious. Therefore blame should not be part of it!

And how much better would it be if we supported each other instead?
8/

What if, when a person from our community tested +ve, we all rallied with support & care? Not expecting hiding in shame or “in private”, but openly caring about our neighbours & colleagues? Helping w/ deliveries? Calling?

And what if our leaders approached it that way, too?
9/

Then there would be no need to hide data. There would be no fear of testing positive.

There would be understanding of, & a *willingness* to understand, what makes this virus transmit. And the will to change strategies to fit the science. And a public ready to work together.
10/

Instead, we got leadership that chose to stigmatize instead of fighting the virus head on. That chose to make it secret, both with data and with how people isolated on a “granular” level. A leadership that discourages testing & hides VoC stats.
11/

Leadership that chooses endless “half-measures” instead of the proven-success of #CovidZero.

That minimizes new scientific discoveries for months on end. That refuses to give straight answers to questions.

@CDCofBC @bcndp have made #COVID19 political, when it needn’t be.
12/

We successfully approach multiple other illnesses without stigma; why are we doing the opposite w/ #COVID19? Obviously a failing method; it does not inspire cooperation.

We can be a caring, compassionate species.

@bcndp Your move.

#NoMoreStigma #ResignHenryGustafson
END