HIV/AIDS Stigma

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSW) have the highest HIV prevalence but have the least access to services due to their marginalization within Congolese society.

Regular voluntary counseling and testing is a key component of the fight against HIV/AIDS. In Benin, the project SIDA-1/2/3 established to decrease HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STIs) among female sex workers (FSWs), implemented a multifaceted intervention, including outreach activities. The objective of this article was to present potential advantages and limitations of 3 categories of outreach interventions designed to increase the use of testing services among FSWs in Benin. [from abstract]

This study aimed to document LGBT people’s experiences in SA public sector health care, including access to HIV counselling, testing and treatment, to analyse to what extend LGBT people’s right to health is actioned. It also investigates strategies for LGBT people to seek resolution and create accountability when experiencing health rights violations. [from abstract]

Sensitivity training of front-line African health care workers (HCWs) attending to men who have sex with men (MSM) is actively promoted through national HIV prevention programming in Kenya.

This article analyzes community health workers’ (CHW) capacities for empathic service within an AIDS treatment program in Addis Ababa. I show how CHWs’ capacities to build relationships with stigmatized people, reconcile family disputes, and confront death draw on a constellation of values, desires, and emotions encouraged by CHWs’ families and religious teachings. I then examine the ways in which the capacities of CHWs were valued by the
institutions that deployed them.

This report documents the findings from a three day workshop on HIV
related stigma reduction for health care workers in India. The workshop was organized to test out an approach and materials for training health care workers about HIV related stigma in order to organize a large scale training program for health care workers and to build on the efforts of the World Bank to raise awareness on HIV stigma and discrimination. [adapted from introduction]

This study explored perceived barriers to accessing HIV/AIDS care and prevention services among health workers in Swaziland by asking health workers about their views on how HIV affects Swaziland’s health workforce and what barriers and strategies health workers have for addressing HIV and using healthcare treatment facilities. [from abstract]

This study describes health worker perceptions and explores the factors that influence job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of health personnel working on the HIV response in Vietnam and confirms the relationship between stigmatization of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and stigma experienced by staff because of association with PLHIV from families, colleagues, and society. [adapted from abstract]

This study was conducted to explore stigma and discrimination against PLHIV amongst healthcare providers in Jimma zone, Southwest Ethiopia. [from abstract]

This guide aims to assist policymakers, health workers, and civil society organizations understand health stigma and discrimination and identify the ways in which each can work to combat their expression. [from introduction]

This study, conducted from August to September 2007, utilized a population-based survey to investigate stigmatizing attitudes and acts of discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients among doctors and nurses working in public hospitals in Belize. [from abstract]

This curriculum was developed for people living with HIV in the Middle East and North Africa region who wanted to create workshops that provide space for their supportive physicians to discuss stigma in the healthcare setting and unite in their responses to HIV. [from author]

Although progress has been made in developing programs to reduce stigma and discrimination, lack of standardized indicators for measuring their effectiveness has inhibited application and scale-up of proven strategies. This working report presents the findings from an internet-based survey designed to validate the items in an health facility and provider stigma measurement tool. The goal was to assess the validity of items designed to measure the key drivers of stigma. [from introduction]

This presentation from the 2006 International AIDS Conference outlines discriminatory practices to people living with HIV/AIDS in health care settings, contributing factors, impact on access to care, and changing health care workers’ attitudes. [adapted from author]

This study measures levels of stigma within health care settings in urban and rural Gujarat, in an attempt to understand how this may have contributed to the state’s increasing HIV incidence. [from abstract]

This study aimed at identifying the level of HIV-related discriminatory attitudes and related factors in a sample of healthcare workers in Bangladesh. The results indicate that programs to reduce irrational fear about transmission of HIV are urgently needed. [adapted from abstract]

This research examend HIV-related stigma in Nigeria focusing on how power differences based on gender perpetuate the stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS and how these gender differences affect the care that they receive in health care institutions. [adapted from abstract]

The aim of this article is to document the levels of HIV stigma reported by persons living with HIV infections and nurses in Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania. HIV stigma has been shown to negatively affect the quality of life for people living with HIV infection, their adherence to medication, and their access to care. Few studies have documented HIV stigma by association as experienced by nurses or other health care workers who care for people living with HIV infection. [from abstract]

The objective of this study was to field test tools designed to measure stigma and discrimination against patient with HIV/AIDS in the Kenyan context, focusing on facilities and providers of health services. [adapted from summary]

The Kenya Treatment Access Movement has mobilized healthcare workers from across the country to facilitate formation of a national network for HIV-positive healthcare workers. The network’s mission is to act as an advocate for all healthcare workers living with or affected by HIV, helping to reduce stigma and discrimination, increase their visibility, and expand access to treatment, care, and support services. [from author]

The purpose of this review paper is to provide information and guidance to those in the health care setting about why it is important to combat HIV-related stigma and how to successfully address its causes and consequences within health facilities. [from abstract]

This document discusses the outcomes of a qualitative study to describe the knowledge and practices of private clinic and laboratory service providers regarding HIV and HIV counseling and testing.

The study also identifies the characteristics of the stigma that private service providers place on female sex workers, men who have sex with men, people living with HIV/AIDS and describes the experiences of these groups regarding private counseling and testing services. [adapted from executive summary]

The HIV status of surgeons is a contentious matter in the context of the informed consent obtained from patients. This article presents the results of a survey of the views of practicing surgeons in South Africa regarding aspects of HIV and its impact on surgeons. [adapted from introduction]

This study examined the attitude of health care workers to nurses, doctors and patients infected with HIV. [from abstract]

The toolkit is a collection of participatory educational exercises for educating health care providers on the issues of stigma and gender-based violence. It was developed for and with health care providers in Andhra Pradesh, India. The goal is to facilitate open discussion on HIV stigma and gender violence, and on what health workers can do to promote a change in attitude and practice. [from publisher]

The purposes of this study were to quantify stigma among Rwandan healthcare providers toward patients with HIV/AIDS; to assess healthcare provider fears and perceived risks for HIV while providing services to patients with HIV/AIDS; to quantify practices in hospitals and health centers and among health providers that discriminate against HIV-positive patients; and to evaluate the relationship between provider stigma, provider fears, and perceived risks with discrimination against HIV-positive patients in health facilities and among healthcare providers. [from summary]

HPI conducted a survey in Ukraine to test indicators and questions regarding HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination at the facility/provider level. This research examined HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination by providers of general medical services in three regions in Ukraine. [from summary]

This paper provides a review of the reported barriers that prevent doctors from managing HIV infected patients. The four most commonly reported barriers were: fear of contagion, fear of losing patients, unwillingness to care, and inadequate knowledge /training about treating HIV patients. [from abstract]

This paper reports on AIDS-related stigma baseline findings from a study to evaluate the impact of a stigma-reduction intervention in three large hospitals in New Delhi, India. The study highlights issues particular to the health care sector in limited-resource settings. [from abstract]

The purpose of this study was to assess physicians’ knowledge, attitude and global comfort in caring for patients with AIDS (PWA), to determine the sociodemographic variables that could influence physicians and to identify any relationship between their knowledge, attitude and comfort. The study reinforced the need for an ongoing education focused on experiential learning and professional socialization in order to influence physicians’ attitude and enhance their feeling of comfort when caring for PWA. [adapted from abstract]