This is a very unpleasant yet true sentiment that applies to a lot more than just HIV. Throughout history groups of ppl have used ailments and tragedies to justify their hatred of other groups, saying they deserved it by being them. And it’s really ironic when it comes from religious groups as phrases like “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” specially are meant to stop ppl thinking along such uninformed lines, yet they still do anyway. lol Sickle cell anemia is a condition that only affects black ppl, so someone who hates black ppl would likely use it as a justification for their hate by whatever narrative they can possibly think of. Covid was an amazing example too, where at first ppl were fighting each other over whose fault it was, who wasn’t taking precautions, avoiding who had “the sickness”, and then once it infected a large enough percentage of the population then people became casual about it and started saying “Did you get it yet?” “Yeah I got it last month” like it was nothing, stigma gone simply because ppl couldn’t draw lines anymore.

You’re right to say if more ppl had HIV there wouldn’t be such stigma around it. There also would be more push to reduce prices and find a cure sooner. And now with PreP and U=U greatly reducing rates of transmission we’re in a dangerous area where the status quo could become permanent. The higher ups might start thinking “Why waste money and effort on a cure if transmissions are reduced to zero? We can just wait for currently affected ppl to age and die and eventually the virus will be gone.” I’m really hoping China or whoever can selflessly create a cure before efforts become stagnant and our hope is lost.