HIV and AIDS Stigma Violates Human Rights in Five African Countries

Abstract

The situation and human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS were explored through focus groups in five African countries (Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania). A descriptive qualitative research design was used. The 251 informants were people living with HIV and AIDS, and nurse managers and nurse clinicians from urban and rural settings. NVivo software was used to identify specific incidents related to human rights, which were compared with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The findings revealed that the human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS were violated in a variety of ways, including denial of access to adequate or no health care/services, and denial of home care, termination or refusal of employment, and denial of the right to earn an income, produce food or obtain loans. The informants living with HIV and AIDS were also abused verbally and physically. Country governments and health professionals need to address these issues to ensure the human rights of all people.

Assessment of Stigma and Discrimination Experienced by People Living with HIV and AIDS Receiving Care/Treatment in University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria

“…8 Several similar studies conducted in other African Countries and other parts of the world also showed that PLWHAs experienced stigma and discrimination in the health care settings. 14,16,17,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] The implication of these findings is that because of stigma and discrimination in health care settings, PLWHA may be given substandard care, treated with disdain, face limited access to services, or avoid services all together. If these attitudes continue in the health care settings, it will be difficult to control HIV and AIDS.…”

“…These findings are supported by findings in similar studies conducted in other African Countries which showed that people living with HIV experienced stigma and discrimination at all levels of the communities. [13][14][15][16][17] One quarter (25%) of the respondents had experienced stigmatization and discrimination (ie, unfair treatment) due to their positive HIV status. This finding is lower than findings from similar studies conducted in South Africa and Kenya, which found stigma and discrimination rates of 40% and 43%, respectively.…”

HIV stigma experiences and stigmatisation before and after an intervention

“…Earlier authors have described it as a disempowerment of PLWH through labelling, stereotyping, separation, diminishing and discrimination (Link, Yang, Phelan, & Collins, 2004). Moreover, according to Kohi et al (2006), stigma manifests in the violation of human rights which may take the form of refusing to care for PLWH within health facilities, verbal and physical abuse, food deprivation, denial of employment or income opportunities, denial of leadership positions and a so-called justified breach of confidentiality regarding the HIV status of PLWH. Further aspects of psychological distress experienced by stigmatised PLWH include increased physical distance, awkward social interaction, indifference, avoidance, blaming, exaggerated kindness, aggression, exclusion, excessive hygienic measures and being told to disclose or not (Stutterheim et al, 2009).…”

Evaluation of a Health Setting-Based Stigma Intervention in Five African Countries

“…They limited their review 1 to articles published in peer-reviewed journals since 2001 evaluating stigma interventions through experimental or quasi-experimental design.…”

“…We started with a qualititative study based on focus group interviews to understand HIV stigma from the perspectives of nurses 1,2 and those living with HIV infection [3][4][5][6][7] and then developed two instruments to measure HIV stigma in the African context 4,8 . We then used these two instruments to monitor HIV stigma over the period of 1 year in all five countries, in a group of people living with HIV infection and a group of nurses.…”