But all of these legal issues have a single root cause, stigma, and lawyers can t touch it. Stigma is a fear issue, and stigma is a self-esteem issue. We can t just outlaw fear, and outlawing bad behavior without addressing the cause of it will never be completely successful. Discrimination is a natural reaction to fear.
Stigma prevents successful public health measures and negates public health initiatives.
If public health activities in Michigan succeed at all, and there is ample reason to believe that they do, it is absolutely despite the stigma that surrounds the very topics and concepts that public health must address. To pretend otherwise is foolhardy. But unlawful disclosure and unlawful discrimination can occur anywhere. And they can occur anywhere, to any provider, at any level or facility or area of specialty. This hopelessness is a public health problem because people who do not have hope for their future, their health and their importance to the rest of the world will be hard-pressed to see the importance of getting care, getting jobs, getting out, and moving forward.