JPSIM Journal of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine J Pak Soc Intern Med 2709-8729 2710-0804 Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine 10.70302/jpsim.v2i4.2172 jpsim.v2i4.2172 STUDENT CORNER Social Stigma Self-Acceptance Against HCV Patients in Sialkot Pakistan Abbas Salbia salbia.abbas@gcwus.edu.pk * Tabbasum Tehreem Abbas Saira Bibi Khuzaifa Department of Psychology, Govt. College for Women University Sialkot *Correspondence: Salbia Abbas (salbia.abbas@gcwus.edu.pk) 14 12 2021 2021 2 4 323 326 19 09 2021 06 12 2021 Copyright © 2021 The Author(s) 2021 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective

The aim of this study was to explore the level of social stigma about HCV patients in our community and the

level of self-acceptance in HCVpatients.

 Methodology

Two scales for measuring social stigma and self-acceptance were used. For the measurement of social stigma

about HCV patients, HCV Social Stigma Scale by Ayesha Noor and for the measurement of self-acceptance in HCV

patients; modified form of Berger's Self-Acceptance Scale was used. The data for social stigma was obtained by general

community members while the data for self-acceptance was collected from HCVpatients.

 Results

The results indicated that even through there is no relationship between the two variables there is still average

level of social stigma in our community about HCV patients (M = 45.76, SD = 10.26) and the level of self-acceptance in

HCV patients is also at moderate level (M = 38.09, SD = 11.29). The male HCV patients have more self-acceptance (M =

40.52, SD = 11.27), than female HCV patients (M = 36.44, SD = 10.99).No gender difference was analysed in social

stigma against HCVsufferers.

 Conclusion

To conclude, we can say that there is social stigma about HCV patients in our society but this social stigma is

not enough significant to affect the level of self-acceptance in HCV patient. In our community, the level of self-acceptance

in HCVpatients is more than average but it should be increased by raising awareness through

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