site.bta25% of Bulgarians Would Maintain Friendship with HIV-Positive Person – Trend Survey

Only one Bulgarian in four would maintain a friendship with an HIV-positive person. Men are somewhat more tolerant than women: the respective shares in the two gender groups are 28% and 23%. The data were collected during a nationwide representative survey by the Trend Research Centre, commissioned by the Health Without Borders Association, which runs Bulgaria’s only privately funded sexual health centre, CheckPoint Sofia.

The findings of the survey, which examined public attitudes to HIV/AIDS in Bulgaria, were published on Friday ahead of World AIDS Day, December 1.

The data show that tolerance for people living with HIV and awareness of issues related to the virus are still disturbingly low in Bulgaria, although young and better educated people give reasons for hope, CheckPoint commented. They said Bulgarians still have difficulty accepting HIV-positive people in their lives.

Only 3% of respondents would marry an HIV-positive person. Age matters a lot in this respect, with 19% of young people aged 18-29 saying they would not mind having an HIV-positive spouse.

Working relationships exhibit somewhat higher levels of tolerance, but acceptance is still critically low in this domain as well. Approximately 29% of interviewees would work with an HIV-positive individual. Unemployed people show the highest tolerance as 43% of them would have no problem with such a working relationship.

The poll also shows that 23% of adult Bulgarians would do sports with an HIV-positive person. The share is higher (28%) in regional capitals and considerably lower (14%) in rural areas.

Awareness of HIV-related matters and safety precautions remains rather low. About 18% of respondents know about the use of medicines, often referred to as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), which can prevent infection in case of risky sexual behaviour. Awareness of PrEP is highest among residents of regional capitals (28%) and people with higher education (26%). Some 21% are aware that HIV-positive parents can have healthy children if they receive therapy. Seventeen per cent have heard about people successfully cured of HIV.

More than half of adult Bulgarians (54%) say that HIV knowledge should be included in school curricula. Young people aged 18-29 are most enthusiastic about that, with 68% of them being in favour.

The private life and career of HIV-positive people are topics on which members of the public disagree widely, the press release said. Approximately 29% of those polled in the survey support the right of such individuals to marry, and another 45% are opposed to the idea. The right of such people to adopt children is backed by 16% of respondents, and 66% are firmly against it. About 68% do not want HIV-positive people to work as teachers, and 67% do not accept them treating patients. People with higher education are more inclined to accept HIV-positive persons as teachers (22%), and the least educated are least inclined (6%).

CheckPoint Sofia CEO Elena Birindzhieva commented: “By conducting educational and health campaigns, Bulgaria can make a major step forward in accepting and supporting people who live with HIV.”

The survey was conducted between November 8 and 15, 2024, through direct standard interviews with 1,006 adult Bulgarians and is representative of the country’s population over 18 years old.