Key populations, in this context, refers to transgender individuals, people who use drugs, sex workers and gay men.

Speaking during a media briefing on the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Southeast Asia, Dr Raja Iskandar Shah Raja Azwa of Universiti Malaya Medical Centre said Malaysia was struggling with offering proper sex education even after 20 years.

“People are afraid of what deviates from the accepted conventional norms within society, and sexuality plays a big part in it,” he said. “On top of that, you have religion thrown into it and that doesn’t help.”

Iskandar said a survey among medical and dentistry students found that they were most likely to discriminate against gay men, transgenders, drug addicts and HIV patients.

He also said there was a perception that gay men were irresponsible and often engaged in unprotected sex, which made them most vulnerable to stigmatisation.

“We do not have visible and educated gay men within occupations that are contributing to society. It is a vicious cycle,” he said, adding that better visibility and representation of the gay community was needed.

Iskandar also said sensitisation and incorporating health issues faced by key populations into the medical curriculum were important ways to combat stigma.

Over in Thailand, Kritima Samitpol, a supervisor at Tangerine Clinic in Bangkok, said stigma against transgender people in the medical field was especially prevalent. The community was also banned from serving in the military or receiving proper healthcare in the country.

In the last year, she said she knew of three medical students who were asked to leave their universities because they were transgender.

“Unofficially, you are not allowed to study to become a doctor if you are transgender. If you come across transgender women or men doctors, they started their transitions after they finished their degree,” she said.

Kritima said there was a need to review her country’s structural stigma against transgender people, so the community could receive better support.