"As the United States enters the second decade of the
AIDS epidemic, attitudes and beliefs concerning HIV-disease will play an
increasingly important role in shaping societal response. Americans will
be called upon to bear the epidemic's considerable economic costs and,
increasingly, to respond individually to persons with AIDS in their
schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, and families. AIDS-related
initiatives and referenda will appear with greater frequency on
electoral ballots, and AIDS-related policies will be included in
candidates' campaign platforms. Consequently, understanding public
reactions will be critically important for educating Americans about the
epidemic, promoting enlightened public policy, and fostering compassion
for persons infected with HIV.
Public attitudes surrounding AIDS are shaped by the complex
characteristics of the epidemic. AIDS is a transmissible and, to date,
lethal disease; personal reactions to it inevitably are influenced by
concerns about individuals' own well-being and that of their loved ones.
AIDS also is a highly stigmatized illness. Many persons perceived to be
infected with HIV have been fired from their jobs, driven from their
homes and socially isolated (Herek, 1990; Herek & Glunt, 1988). This
stigma results both from the physical characteristics of AIDS (e.g., its
negative effect on physical appearance and ability for social
interaction; its communicability; its perceived lethality) and its
psychosocial characteristics (i.e., its prevalence among such
already-stigmatized groups as gay men, IV-drug users, Blacks, and
Hispanics). In particular, attitudes toward gay men appear to exert an
important influence on reactions to AIDS (e.g., Herek, 1990; Pryor,
Reeder, & Vinacco, 1989; Stipp & Kerr, 1989;)." AIDS-RELATED
ATTITUDES IN THE UNITED STATES: A PRELIMINARY CONCEPTUALIZATION
|
10
Strategies to Counter Stigma |
Gives methods to
reduce stigma/discrimination |
Pdf 66 kb |
|
A Call For Community: Two Papers on HIV and AIDS Related Stigma in
Africa
|
It
is widely recognized that HIV/AIDS-related stigma is both widespread
and a significant obstacle to the provision of effective care and
prevention measures. Beyond that statement, however, little is
certain in terms of how pervasive HIV/AIDS-related stigma is, what
its causes are, what forms it takes and what steps can be taken to
reduce or eliminate it in the many different settings in which it
occurs. Indeed, it is possible that the word stigma itself is
inappropriate or does not cover the full range of negative actions
and attitudes that may be directed towards people living with
HIV/AIDS or are otherwise identified with the disease. |
Pdf 486 kb |
|
A
conceptual framework and basis for action: HIV/AIDS stigma &
discrimination |
Stigma and
discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS are the greatest
barriers to preventing further infections, providing adequate care,
support and treatment and alleviating impact. HIV/AIDS stigma and
discrimination are universal, occurring in every country and region
of the world. They are triggered by many forces, including lack of
understanding of the disease, myths about how HIV is transmitted,
prejudice, lack of treatment, irresponsible media reporting on the
epidemic, the fact that AIDS is incurable, social fears about
sexuality, feats relating to illness and death, and fears about
illicit drugs and injecting drug use |
Pdf 346 kb |
|
A Profile of the Stigma and Discrimination faced by People Living
with HIV/AIDS
|
HIV/AIDS leaves people both physically and emotionally vulnerable:
physically, because their immune systems are fighting a difficult
battle, and emotionally because of the threat of death, and the
stigma and discrimination attached to a condition that is associated
with sex, sex work, and injection drugs. As a result, people living
with HIV/AIDS are sometimes forced out of their homes and jobs. They
can be rejected by families and friends. Often, they are accused of
being personally responsible for their situation. As a consequence
of the notion that particular social groups and sectors are more
vulnerable to HIV than others (e.g., those who sell sex, men who
have sex with other men, and those who inject drugs), people already
on the margins of society encounter greater hostility and face
further stigma and discrimination. |
Pdf 262 kb |
|
A review of the Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of university
students concerning HIV/AIDS |
Based on the
findings of such studies, health promotions should be planned,
implemented and continuously evaluated, updated and changed. This
indicates that health promotion is one of the areas where social
science theory, research and practice have to be intertwined on an
ongoing basis in order to be effective |
125 kb pdf |
|
Accelerating the Momentum in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS
|
HIV/AIDS related
discrimination and stigma in South Asia: A violation of human rights
|
133 kb pdf |
|
Addressing HIV-Related Stigma and Resulting Discrimination in
Africa: A Three-Country Study in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia |
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is leading a
research initiative in three African countries to investigate the
causes, manifestations, and consequences of HIV/AIDS-related stigma
and subsequent discriminatory acts. The basis for analysis is the
community and its institutions—health facilities, the workplace,
schools, and religious groups. ICRW and its in-country partners hope
to gain an understanding of those factors that perpetuate or
mitigate stigma and how they affect access to HIV prevention, care,
and support efforts. |
Pdf 52 kb |
|
Addressing Stigma in Implementing HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy |
Unless stigma is addressed, effective implementation of an HIV/AIDS
policy is impossible. This paper describes the experience of ACORD
Uganda in their efforts to implement an effective workplace policy.
It focuses in particular on the importance of addressing stigma
within the organisation - both as an objective of the policy itself
and as a prerequisite of its effective implementation. |
Pdf 257 kb |
|
Advocacy for
Action on Stigma and HIV/AIDS in Africa |
We also
recognize that stigma—characterized by silence, fear, discrimination
and denial—fuels the spread of HIV/AIDS. It undermines prevention,
care and support; it also increases the impact of the epidemic on
individuals, families, communities and nations |
Pdf 516 kb |
|
African Women Acting Together Against HIV/AIDS
|
The chaotic pandemic of HIV/AIDS continues to have a devastating
impact on African women, young people and children. It became the
principal economic, social, cultural, political and religious issue
influencing daily life in Africa. The tremendous impact and the
rapidity of the spread of HIV/AIDS have changed the African’s view
on the pandemic. Long gone is the time when many were in denial of
the disaster. Today, everyone in Africa knows that denying the
reality of the evil doesn’t save human lives. |
Pdf 1183 kb |
|
AIDS...Hidden Crisis In Arab, Islamic Countries
|
"This
stigma is largely out of fear. And this fear arises out of
misunderstanding about the mood of transmission of the infection,
its relation to socially unacceptable behaviors and the belief that
HIV is a fatal disease" said Hussein Al- Gezairy Regional Director
of WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region office. |
|
|
AIDS: A Jewish Perspective |
At
the outset, one possible misconception must be dispelled. The
argument is sometimes made that since AIDS is spread by conduct that
both Judaism and Christianity regard as immoral, society should not
be overly concerned. Let the sinners suffer the consequences of
their sin. This is an utterly fallacious argument |
|
|
AIDS: An Evangelical Perspective
|
it
is wrong to suggest that God created AIDS as a special punishment
for the sin of homosexual practice. Such a suggestion ignores, for
one thing, much empirical data. Apparently the virus is new. Why
would God wait for millennia to design this special punishment?
Furthermore, many people who have not engaged in homosexual activity
have AIDS. At least 500 babies have already been born with AIDS, and
a minimum of 700 people have contracted the disease through blood
transfusions. If AIDS is divine punishment for homosexual practice,
why don’t gay women get it? Are the radical feminists right that God
is exclusively female? In parts of Africa, AIDS affects
heterosexuals and homosexuals in approximately equal numbers |
|
|
AIDS: How a Killer Plague Can Be Stopped |
Some people looked for scapegoats, blaming others for their
misfortune and killing them by the thousands even as they sought to
be spared from the deadly invader. Many grew suspicious of Jews, who
to a large extent had gone unscathed by the plague. Made scapegoats
for the horrendous suffering, many Jews who had escaped the plague
died at the hands of their neighbors. Ironically, plague victims
could have learned much from the Jews that could have spared many of
them from the disease. |
|
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AIDS: The fear syndrome |
AIDS is not only an epidemic, but also a major crisis in public
health with social, economic and political repercussions, as well as
with important implications for human rights. At the level of the
virus as such, that is, at the level of its microscopic structure
and its modes of transmission and multiplication, we have often –
and rightly – had the impression that, the more research progressed,
the more elusive AIDS became. At a more general level, as a global
epidemic, AIDS is also, unfortunately, defeating previous
assumptions and posing new threats. AIDS has become a
multidimensional challenge. Over and above the very real progress
made in treating the disease, this is the main lesson learned from
more than 20 years of struggle against AIDS: without a global
response, it tends to spread out of control, as is in fact happening
today in several regions of the world. Much too often, the struggle
against AIDS is waged in a piecemeal, fragmented way, when what is
required is, on the contrary, a high degree of coordination among
all the social players – including trade unions, which have a key
role to play. Today we know that, in order to be effective, an
HIV-AIDS prevention programme must target, in the first place, all
those who can act as intermediate links with the population:
teachers, employers, trade unionists, local chiefs, religious
leaders, healers, etc. In this respect, workers’ organisations have
excellent credentials. “ |
Pdf 73 kb |
|
AIDS-Related Stigma and Social Interaction: Puerto Ricans Living
With HIV/AIDS
|
People living with HIV/AIDS are stigmatized. Although personal and
social consequences of this stigmatization have been documented,
research regarding its impact on social interactions is scarce.
Latinos, and Puerto Ricans in particular, have voiced concern
regarding AIDS stigma. The authors investigated the key role of
social interaction in the process of stigmatization through
in-depth, semistructured interviews in a sample of 30 Puerto Ricans
living with HIV/AIDS. Participants reported instances in which AIDS
stigma negatively influenced social interactions with family,
friends, sexual partners, coworkers, and health professionals. Some
of the consequences they described were loss of social support,
persecution, isolation, job loss, and problems accessing health
services. Findings support the need for interventions to address
AIDS stigma and its consequences. |
Pdf 121 kb |
|
AIDS Action testing |
An AIDS
awareness counselor recently summed up her experience of society's
response to AIDS: 'I believe that, although AIDS is a new disease,
it is laying bare all the old prejudices and political injustices
that already exist.' One area where this is most apparent is the
misuse of testing for HIV infection. |
|
|
AIDS AND AFRICA: A CASE OF RACISM VS SCIENCE? |
Western
scientists have promoted the hypothesis that the AIDS epidemic began
in Africa, arguing that either AIDS had existed for many years in an
African "lost tribe" or that a retrovirus crossed the species
barrier from monkey to man. The scientific evidence in support of
this hypothesis has included AIDS-like cases from Africa that
predated the epidemic in the West, seroepidemiological evidence for
early African infection, and the isolation of retroviruses from
African monkeys considered similar to the human immunodeficiency
virus. Yet when the scientific literature supporting an African
origin is examined it is found to be contradictory, insubstantial or
unsound, whilst the possibility that AIDS was introduced to Africa
from the West has not been seriously investigated. |
|
|
AIDS and Human
Rights |
The Resolution
noted that HIV/AIDS represents a real threat to ILO’s primary
objective and in particular its legitimate concern to protect the
rights of working men and women affected by the epidemic. It also
recognized that the ILO’s core mandate, tripartite structure and
decent work agenda give it the right, the responsibility and the
means to respond effectively to the epidemic |
|
|
AIDS and Stigma
|
This article
briefly reviews current knowledge about AIDS-related stigma, defined
as prejudice, discounting, discrediting, and discrimination directed
at people perceived to have AIDS or HIV, and the individuals,
groups, and communities with which they are associated. AIDS stigma
has been manifested in discrimination, violence, and personal
rejection of people with AIDS |
|
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AIDS and Stigma: 1999 Survey Items
|
The following
pages report exact wording for some of the items used in a 1999
national telephone survey on AIDS and stigma. |
104 kb pdf |
|
AIDS and the Church |
The church, however, was noticeably silent. In fact, since 1981 when
AIDS was first described, the personal tragedies and social failures
associated with the disease appear to have been largely ignored by
the church -- except for those strident segments that view AIDS as
God’s retribution on a sinful people. |
|
|
AIDS Care
|
Providing
practical help may not be part of the typical job description of a
medical student, but the experience of serving people in this way
was personally invaluable. Often what I perceived a patient's needs
to be and what they were asking me to do were two different things
|
|
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AIDS Challenges Religious Leaders |
But the bishops face a dilemma that is not unique to southern
Africa, and that is only likely to intensify. As AIDS deaths mount,
the pandemic is challenging the world's mainstream religions as much
as any event in modern history, seemingly setting at odds their core
missions of assuaging human suffering and perfecting human morality |
|
|
AIDS and Confidentiality Contact Tracing and "Duty to inform"
|
Contact tracing in the context of STDs before HIV relied on the
patient's cooperation and this cooperation was secured by the fact
that the anonymity of the index patient (that is, the patient who is
to serve as the reference point for all contact traces - the one in
the doctor ís office) would be preserved. The people being notified
would then be able to begin treatment. In the initial stages of the
AIDS epidemic, several facts about HIV led to the opposition of
contact tracing; namely, the fact that it was untreatable in the
early stages (and ultimately incurable) and the fact that it was
initially spread most commonly by homosexual contact. Thus the
battle began between invasion of privacy vs. potential benefit. |
|
|
|
|
AIDS edict
fuels dispute |
Man with disease
banned from using pool at mobile home park |
|
|
AIDS/HIV Disease and Socio-Culturally Diverse Populations |
Culture embodies
the values, attitudes, beliefs and practices of a group as well as
its roles and structures, communication styles, technology, art, and
artifacts. The numbers of reported cases of AIDS/HIV disease are
dramatically increasing in some ethnic and minority groups. |
|
|
Aids orphans
'to double' |
The number of
children orphaned by Aids will almost double to 25m by the end of
the decade, experts predict. |
|
|
AIDS
related Stigma-consequences |
AIDS related
stigma possesses a variety of negative consequences for the
individual who is HIV positive, as well as uninfected individuals or
people who do not know if they are HIV positive or HIV negative.
|
|
|
AIDS RELATED STIGMA Thinking Outside the Box: The Theological
Challenge |
For the churches, the most powerful contribution we can make to
combating HIV transmission is the eradication of stigma and
discrimination…Given the extreme urgency of the situation, and the
conviction that the churches do have a distinctive role to play in
the response to the epidemic, what is needed is a rethinking of our
mission, and the transformation of our structures and ways of
working. |
Pdf 521 kb |
|
AIDS statistics |
Presentation
|
133 kb pdf |
|
AIDS: Stigmatize or Show Mercy?
|
40,000,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS today, of which 3,000,000
are children under the age of 15. A particularly troubling
consequence of the deadly disease is the number of orphaned children
that has resulted. Today, more than 13 million children, most of who
live in sub-Saharan Africa, have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
By the year 2010, it is estimated that this number will jump to more
than 25 million. In a world that harvests more than 40,000 refugees
as a result of wars, civil strife, floods, earthquakes and
destitution, AIDS also forms a formidable enemy. |
|
|
AIDS trends
in US. |
Death
Certificate Data from the National Center for Health Statistics
|
375 kb pdf |
|
AIDS
Trends-graphs 85-99. |
Graphs and
tables |
379 kb pdf |
|
AIDS
Workplace Law and Policy: A Systematic Analysis
|
The Article
begins with a discussion of the right to privacy, search and
seizure, and race as they are emerging in an AIDS workplace context.
It then explores AIDS discrimination protections and public health
efforts to combat AIDS |
|
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AIDS/HIV IN
SIERRA LEONE: THE KILLER IS ALREADY IN OUR MIDST |
At last, we can
openly discuss it. HIV/AIDS is no longer a taboo subject in Sierra
Leone. There are believed to be tens of thousands of our citizens
carrying the HIV/AIDS infection |
|
|
AIDS-case studies - conceptual. |
This paper
presents outline accounts of some social and economic features of
the HIV/AIDS epidemics in five countries |
Pdf 71 kb |
|
AIDS-RELATED ATTITUDES IN THE UNITED STATES: A PRELIMINARY
CONCEPTUALIZATION |
This paper
offers a preliminary conceptualization of the psychological
structure of AIDS-related attitudes among American adults and
describes some of the social and psychological factors that affect
those attitudes. |
|
|
AIDS-related stigma among adolescents |
The primary goal
of this study is to examine and determine factors influencing
stigmatization and discrimination among adolescents towards people
living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana |
Pdf 75 kb |
|
AIDS-Stigma and Discrimination
|
Stigma and
discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS are the greatest
barriers to preventing further infections, providing adequate care,
support and treatment and alleviating impact HIV/AIDS-related stigma
and discrimination are universal occurring in every country and
region of the world |
Pdf 304 kb |
|
An analysis of the policies, pronouncements and programmes on
HIV-related stigma and discrimination in Nigeria |
More than two
decades into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, stigma and discrimination
against people who have HIV/AIDS (PLWH)
or are affected by HIV continue unabated. Although the global
pandemic has shown itself capable of triggering responses of
compassion, solidarity and support, bringing out the best in people,
their families and communities yet stigma and ostracism, repression
and discrimination continue to be reported in both the rich
developed and poor developing countries of the world. |
|
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An Intervention to Reduce HIV-Related
Stigma Among African American Communities in South Carolina |
Power Point Presentation |
735 kb |
|
ANGOLA: Enthusiastic caregivers and silent
sufferers |
Fear of stigmatisation in Angola is keeping people living with
HIV/AIDS in hiding. Caregivers are more than willing to help but are
having a hard time finding patients to take care of. |
|
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Anti-Discrimination Law, Overview of UK
|
The potential of
anti-discrimination law and policy to do that for people living with
HIV in the UK exists, but is seriously hampered by the complexity
and inconsistency with which UK law seeks to promote equality and
address discrimination |
261 kb pdf |
|
ARE you HIV
Prejudiced |
We’ve put
together some simple, easy suggestions of things you can do to get
more actively involved in this campaign |
260 kb pdf |
|
Attitudes of General Practitioners Toward Homosexuals in the
Netherlands Antilles |
Power Point
Presentation |
|
|
Big Issues In Brief Scaling up responses to HIV/AIDS |
Stigma looms large and ominous, shadowing the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It
relates to every HIV intervention, including general prevention, the
prevention of mother-to-child transmission, antiretroviral
treatment, and care and support for the patient and family,
including children. On an institutional level, stigma plays a major
role, affecting the ability of public health workers to prevent
infection, to treat and to help people living with HIV/AIDS, and to
assist loved ones in managing and coping with the condition. On a
personal level, stigma can mean loneliness, abandonment, ostracism,
violence, starvation, and death. |
Pdf 206 kb |
|
Breaking Down Barriers-Lessons on Providing
HIV Treatment to Injection Drug Users |
Throughout its 25-year history the HIV pandemic has inflicted its
worst damage on disenfranchised and marginalized populations—such as
injection drug users, sex workers, refugees, asylum seekers,
prisoners, and men who have sex with men. |
Pdf 811 kb |
|
Caregivers
|
HIV disease
presents profound challenges to primary caregivers including
adjusting to the care recipient's disease progression, having
increasing responsibilities for decision making as the disease
progresses, responding to unexpected improvement, having to deal
with a virtually uncontrollable disease, and managing role conflict
and fatigue. |
|
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Challenging HIV Related Stigma |
Pervasive stigma
has surrounded HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the pandemic. In
Southeast Asia, as elsewhere, it has accompanied by discrimination,
affecting transmission patterns and access to care and support |
Pdf 146 kb |
|
Changing the Stigma of and Levels of Awareness for Hepatitis and
HIV/AIDS |
Many people
believe that there are just a few ways to acquire either of these
diseases and that they occur due to specific life-style behaviors.
This is why, in constructing the survey we attempted to reveal the
possibility of other sources in lieu of basic blood-to-blood or
sexual preferences. |
|
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Comment: The Link between HIV Infection and Marriage |
In
most societies, cultures, and religions, the institution of marriage
marks an important transition from childhood to adulthood and plays
an essential role in social organization. In addition to the many
social and economic factors that lead (or force) people into
marriage, ideals and judgments about fidelity are pervasive
throughout society and often prioritize marriage and marital
fidelity. Laws often penalize extramarital sex, economic and health
policies encourage fidelity, religious leaders frequently condemn
infidelity as immoral, and in the general population there is often
disapproval of extramarital sex-despite the frequency with which
people fall below the ideal of marital monogamy. |
|
|
Comparative analysis-India & Uganda. |
Comparison of
data between India and Uganda |
Pdf 209 kb |
|
Complacency on AIDS |
Treatment should
lead to more, rather than less, talk of prevention. The availability
of treatment reduces the disease's stigma, making it easier for
people to discuss AIDS and be receptive to messages of prevention.
Where AIDS is always fatal, on the other hand, it is shrouded in
denial. |
|
|
Conceptualizing
Stigma |
In response to
these criticisms, we define stigma as the co-occurrence of its
components–labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and
discrimination–and further indicate that for stigmatization to
occur, power must be exercised. The stigma concept we construct has
implications for understanding several core issues in stigma
research, ranging from the definition of the concept to the reasons
stigma sometimes represents a very persistent predicament in the
lives of persons affected by it. |
|
|
Conceptualizing Stigma. |
In response to
these criticisms, we define stigma as the co-occurrence of its
components–labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and
discrimination–and further indicate that for stigmatization to
occur, power must be exercised. The stigma concept we construct has
implications for understanding several core issues in stigma
research, ranging from the definition of the concept to the reasons
stigma sometimes represents a very persistent predicament in the
lives of persons affected by it. |
213 kb pdf |
|
Confidentiality Considerations When Your Patient Has HIV or AIDS+ |
The following case study focuses on a variety of common issues and
scenarios related to HIV/AIDS confidentiality which could arise over
the course of a patient’s care. |
Pdf 135 kb |
|
Consequence of
Stigma |
The impact of
stigma on the affected individual can lead to feelings of
depression, guilt and shame, as well as to behavior that limits
participation within communities and access to services intended to
assist them. Additionally, the fear of being stigmatized can lead to
individual behavior that heightens the risk of transmission. |
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Courts Perpetuating AIDS Stereotypes, Study Indicates
|
The study, which examined the cumulative total of all AIDS-related
litigation since the epidemic began in 1981, was released by the
AIDS Litigation Project, which was established three years ago to
help lawyers, health care providers and consumers understand the
evolution of laws regarding the rights of people with AIDS or those
infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. It is funded by the
AIDS program office of the Department of Health and Human Services.
|
|
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Criminal Law, Public Health and HIV Transmission |
A
number of cases have been reported in which people living with HIV
have been criminally charged for a variety of acts that transmit HIV
or risk transmission. In some cases, criminal charges have been laid
for conduct that is merely perceived as risking transmission,
sometimes with very harsh penalties imposed. Some jurisdictions have
moved to enact or amend legislation specifically to address such
conduct. The issue has also received public and academic commentary. |
Pdf 865 kb |
|
Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Harm Reduction in Muslim Countries
|
Reasons for the spread of HIV in Muslim countries are open to
speculations. Islam places a high value on chaste behavior and
prohibits sexual intercourse outside of marriage. It specifically
prohibits adultery, homosexuality, and the use of intoxicants [11].
Then how can the spread of HIV/AIDS in Muslim countries be
explained? A logical explanation is that in spite of Islamic
teachings, some Muslims do engage in activities that lead to
acquiring HIV; these risky practices include illicit drug use and/or
premarital or extra marital sex. Men who engage in risky behaviors
have the potential of transmitting the disease to their unsuspecting
wives. Women, on the other hand, also are directly susceptible; in
many Muslim countries, brothels and other forms of commercial sex
trade are prevalent. The sex workers have poor social support and
they are not screened for sexually transmitted diseases including
HIV, thus contributing to the spread of infection. Injection drug
users (IDUs) also are rapidly becoming a population of increasing
concern in the transmission of HIV and AIDS, not only in western
countries such as the United States [12-15], but also in developing
countries, including Muslim countries. Sex- and drug-related
behaviors of IDUs can facilitate HIV transmission even when syringes
are not directly shared
|
|
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DIE, THE BELOVED COUNTRIES: HUMAN SECURITY AND HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA |
Children who lose a parent to AIDS suffer loss and grief like any
other orphan. However, their loss is exacerbated by prejudice and
social exclusion, and can lead to the loss of education and health
care (Breaking the Vicious Cycle, 1997). That is, the shame, fear
and rejection that often surrounds people affected by HIV/AIDS can
create additional stress for and isolation of children – both before
and after the death of their parent or parents. The psychological
impact on a child who witnesses his or her parent dying of AIDS can
be more intense than for children whose parents die from more sudden
causes. ‘HIV ultimately makes people ill but it runs an
unpredictable course. There are typically months or years of stress,
suffering or depression before a patient dies. And in developing
countries, where the epidemic is concentrated, effective pain or
symptom relief is often unavailable to alleviate a parent's
suffering’ |
Pdf 78 kb |
|
Disclosing HIV Status for African American Women
|
Since many
people associate HIV infection with illicit behaviors such as
promiscuous sex, homosexual contact, or intravenous drug use,
personal disclosure of HIV status often carries a social stigma that
can lead to emotional distress, depression, and isolation.
|
|
|
Disclosure of HIV-Positive Status to Partners
|
Sixty percent
had disclosed their HIV status to all sexual partners. Of the 40%
who had not disclosed, half had not disclosed to their one and only
partner. Among patients who did not disclose, 57% used condoms less
than all the time. |
|
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Disentangling HIV and AIDS Stigma in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia |
This project,
conducted from April 2001 to September 2003, unraveled the
complexities around stigma by investigating the causes,
manifestations and consequences of HIV and AIDS-related stigma and
discrimination in sub-Saharan Africa. |
1134 kb pdf |
|
Discrimination Against Children Affected by
HIV/AIDS |
Discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and their
families is widespread in India. People whose HIV status is known
may lose their homes, their jobs, and their families, and may be
denied medical care.77 Children who are HIV-positive, or whose
caregivers are, may be denied access to school or treated badly
there, kept at home to care for sick family members, or be unable to
pay school fees because the family wage earner is sick or dead.78
Extended family members may refuse to care for children orphaned by
AIDS, especially those who are also HIV-positive. Institutions,
including health care facilities and orphanages, may make improper
disclosures of children’s test results and reject HIV-positive
children. Children already facing other forms of discrimination—sex
workers, children of sex workers, Dalit and lower-caste children,
and street children—suffer more. Girls are especially vulnerable to
HIV transmission if they are targeted for sexual abuse or have less
access to information about HIV prevention and related issues. They
are also less likely than boys to be given adequate food, medical
care, or education, and more likely to be pulled out of school to
care for a sick family member or to take over domestic work. This
section documents discrimination HIV/AIDS-affected children face in
health services and in education. |
|
|
Discriminatory attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS and
associated factors: a population based study in the Chinese general
population
|
Around 42% of the respondents exhibited discriminatory attitudes in
at least five out of the 20 relevant items. For instance, about 42%
would avoid making physical contact with PLWHA; 35% believed that
all infected medical staff should be dismissed and about 47% would
agree with enacting a law to prohibit PLWHA from visiting Hong Kong.
A sizeable proportion of the respondents also hold negative
perceptions about PLWHA (for example, 43.7% agreed that the majority
of PLWHA are promiscuous, 20.7% thought that PLWHA are merely
receiving the punishment they deserve, etc). Multiple regression
analysis found that age, HIV related knowledge, the above mentioned
negative perceptions about PLWHA, fear related to AIDS, and exposure
to HIV related information were independent predictors of
discriminatory attitudes towards PLWHA. About 30% would give PLWHA
the lowest priority in resource allocation among five groups of
patients with chronic diseases. |
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Early Detection of HIV: Assessing the Legislative Context
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Early detection
of HIV has important implications for both prevention and treatment.
Promoting HIV testing, and thereby early detection, however, is a
complicated task that must balance the interests of public health,
personal privacy, and legislative efforts to curb transmission. This
article assesses the legislative context within which public health
officials must operate to promote early HIV identification
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