CHIEF Medical Officer Dr Sheila Campbell-Forrester yesterday made an impassioned plea for Jamaicans to fight the stigma which has been plaguing persons living with HIV/AIDS.

“(For) too long Jamaicans have been caught up with the notion that persons living with HIV/AIDS cannot make meaningful contributions to society, and that they ought to be despised and avoided. Instead, we should play our part in helping them to feel as if they are still part of our society,” she said.

Campbell-Forrester was speaking at yesterday’s health and wellness expo at the Scientific Research Council in Hope Gardens, St Andrew, and sponsored jointly by the council and the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to the chief medical officer, HIV/AIDS discrimination headed a list of six things she said individuals and the country as a whole needed to effectively address. The others included healthy eating habits, the promotion of health and wellness in the workplace, and the practice of backyard farming.

“We ought to go back to the days when we planted most of what we eat in our backyards and would eat most of what we plant in our backyards,” she said.

Campbell-Forrester’s sentiments about eating more locally produced foods were shared by junior minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Michael Stern.

“Jamaica can produce much more; if we produced more we wouldn’t find ourselves in this spot in this global recession,” said Stern.

“Jamaica can earn much more through agriculture, much more than tourism and bauxite,” he added.

Several corporate entities had booths displaying various products at the expo.

Cari-med used the occasion to promote safe sex and gave lessons on the proper way of putting on a condom.