(with thanks to Health Policy Match: https://healthpolicy-watch.news/stigma-has-no-place-in-public-health-ant... )
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TDR Supported Series 12/01/2026 • Health Policy Watch
Stigma remains one of the most under-examined yet damaging forces shaping global health policy and practice, according to anthropologist Alex Brewis, who argues that shame-based approaches often undermine the very outcomes health interventions aim to achieve.
In a recent episode of Dialogues, a special program of the Global Health Matters Podcast hosted by Dr. Garry Aslanyan, Brewis said stigma should be removed entirely from the public health toolkit.
“The most effective way to undo the damage of stigma within public health is to prevent it from happening in the first place,” Brewis said. “Stigma should not be used in any way for any reason to promote public health.”
Brewis, Regents and Presidents Professor at Arizona State University, co-authored Lazy, Crazy, and Disgusting: Stigma and the Undoing of Global Health, which examines how moral judgments attached to traits such as body size, mental illness, or sanitation practices...
“The solution to stigma is empathy,” she said.
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COMMENT (NPW): Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Stigma also thrives on misinformation and fear. It also thrives on authoritarian governments that spread false beliefs. In order to remove stigma about any given physical or mental condition, every person needs access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA stands ready to investigate stigma in-depth through our tried-and-tested approach of HIFA Projects: https://www.hifa.org/hifa-projects
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org