Addressing HIV-related stigma (original) (raw)
Related papers
Stigma in the HIV/AIDS epidemic: a review of the literature and recommendations for the way forward
AIDS, 2008
Although stigma is considered a major barrier to effective responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, stigma reduction efforts are relegated to the bottom of AIDS program priorities. The complexity of HIV/AIDS related stigma is often cited as a primary reason for the limited response to this pervasive phenomenon. In this paper, we systematically review the scientific literature on HIV/AIDS related stigma to document the current state of research, identify gaps in the available evidence, and highlight promising strategies to address stigma. We focus on the following key challenges: defining, measuring, and reducing HIV/AIDS related stigma as well as assessing the impact of stigma on the effectiveness of HIV prevention and treatment programs. Based on the literature, we conclude by offering a set of recommendations that may represent important next steps in a multifaceted response to stigma in the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Unmasking the Truth: Addressing Stigma in the Fight Against HIV
Elite Journal of Public Health, 2024
The persistent stigma surrounding HIV remains a significant obstacle in the global efforts to combat the epidemic effectively. This review article aims to dissect the multifaceted dimensions of HIV stigma and explore strategies to unmask the truth about its detrimental impact on prevention, care, and support for those affected by the virus. By examining the social, cultural, and institutional aspects of stigma, the article underscores the urgency of addressing and dismantling these barriers. It delves into the repercussions of stigma on prevention and treatment, emphasizing the need for awareness, education, advocacy, and empowerment as essential tools in the fight against HIV stigma. The role of healthcare providers, community engagement, and societal attitudes is scrutinized to underscore the importance of fostering inclusivity and understanding. As the HIV landscape evolves, the article concludes by outlining potential future directions, emphasizing the necessity for ongoing research and collaborative efforts to create a stigma-free environment and promote holistic well-being for individuals living with HIV.
Breaking Barriers: Mitigating Stigma to Control HIV Transmission
Elite Journal of Public Health, 2024
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remains a significant global health concern, with stigma acting as a critical barrier to effective control and prevention. This review article delves into the complex interplay between stigma and HIV transmission, emphasizing the detrimental impact of societal attitudes on testing, treatment adherence, and healthcare access. Stigma perpetuates the cycle of transmission by fostering fear, discrimination, and reluctance to seek care, contributing to increased infection rates. Addressing stigma necessitates a comprehensive approach involving education, awareness campaigns, advocacy, and the creation of supportive environments. Efforts to mitigate stigma and discrimination not only enhance prevention strategies but also uphold the dignity and rights of individuals affected by HIV. This review advocates for a concerted global effort to break down barriers, combat stigma, and create inclusive systems that promote equitable access to healthcare and support services for all affected populations.
‘Stigma’ is frequently invoked as HIV sector shorthand, gesturing at a wide range of prejudicial attitudes, discriminatory practices and unpleasant experiences. We don’t always know how to define it, but we know it when we see it. Often, the concept of stigma stands in for the social ‘remainder’ – the stubborn, irrational prejudice we believe our carefully formulated strategies cannot hope to change. In successive state and national HIV/AIDS strategies, the crucial importance of stigma is repeatedly acknowledged, but almost never included in priorities for action. The enormous breadth of the conceptual field seems to have brought educational policy and strategy to an impasse.
Social Stigma-Barrier for HIV-AIDS prevention & Cure
The complexity of HIV/AIDS related stigma is often cited as a primary reason for the limited response to this pervasive phenomenon that refers to prejudice, discounting, discrediting and discrimination directed at persons perceived to have AIDS or HIV, as well as their partners, friends, families and communities. Although stigma is considered a major barrier to effective responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, stigma reduction efforts are relegated to the bottom of AIDS program Priorities. HIV/AIDS has had a devastating impact at individual, household and community levels. AIDS has challenged several aspects of contemporary social life and conventional approaches to health care. The social and medical responses to diseases have probably not been challenged so intensely for a long time. Social implications of HIV/AIDS are perhaps the serious most threat and hurdle to human development. Stigma profoundly affects the lives of people with HIV/ AIDS. In the present study, we focus to identify the impact of society on HIV positive men and women clients living in Delhi. We also explore the impact of stigma on health and healthcare among HIV positive clients in our sample. We discuss implications of HIV related stigma for the mental and physical health of HIV Positive women and men and suggestions for possible interventions to address the stigma among the society.
Journal of the International AIDS Society
Introduction: There is robust evidence that stigma negatively impacts both people living with HIV and those who might benefit from HIV prevention interventions. Within healthcare settings, research on HIV stigma has focused on intra-personal processes (i.e. knowledge or internalization of community-level stigma that might limit clients' engagement in care) or interpersonal processes (i.e. stigmatized interactions with service providers). Intersectional approaches to stigma call us to examine the ways that intersecting systems of power and oppression produce stigma not only at the individual and interpersonal levels, but also within healthcare service delivery systems. This commentary argues for the importance of analysing and disrupting the way in which stigma may be (intentionally or unintentionally) enacted and sustained within HIV service implementation, that is the policies, protocols and strategies used to deliver HIV prevention and care. We contend that as HIV researchers and practitioners, we have failed to fully specify or examine the mechanisms through which HIV service implementation itself may reinforce stigma and perpetuate inequity. Discussion: We apply Link and Phelan's five stigma components (labelling, stereotyping, separation, status loss and discrimination) as a framework for analysing the way in which stigma manifests in existing service implementation and for evaluating new HIV implementation strategies. We present three examples of common HIV service implementation strategies and consider their potential to activate stigma components, with particular attention to how our understanding of these dynamics can be enhanced and expanded by the application of intersectional perspectives. We then provide a set of sample questions that can be used to develop and test novel implementation strategies designed to mitigate against HIV-specific and intersectional stigma. Conclusions: This commentary is a theory-informed call to action for the assessment of existing HIV service implementation, for the development of new stigma-reducing implementation strategies and for the explicit inclusion of stigma reduction as a core outcome in implementation research and evaluation. We argue that these strategies have the potential to make critical contributions to our ability to address many system-level form stigmas that undermine health and wellbeing for people living with HIV and those in need of HIV prevention services.