As a sexually transmitted infection (STI), HPV is extremely common among the sexually active population, but awareness of the role of the virus may bring stigma to cervical cancer, and resurrect social and psychological barriers to screening that impact negatively on women.
He tells me that "the language is sort of a trap here" because, for thousands of years, "madness has brought a stigma with it and this stigma is one way in which suffering is brought".
He said that people like Duncan and Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American with Ebola who traveled to Nigeria and infected people there, have brought a "stigma" upon Liberians living abroad.
From the Jerry Lewis telethons, to stories where school teams become heroes simply by letting one kid with a disability play for a few minutes out on the court or field, our television sets have brought us stigmas that undermine the one-in-five Americans who have a disability.
But the study also warned that a mine could bring a stigma.
It's not easy, especially dealing with a condition that brings a stigma.
"I saw there was a need to go out into the community to bring down stigma and discrimination and do home visits after people found out their status," says Ms. Soi.
That brought home the stigma, he said, and it took years for him to recover from this rejection.
