WITHDRAWN: Predictors of Discrimination Towards People Living With HIV/ AIDS Among People Aged 15–49 Years in Ethiopia: A Multilevel Analysis

Abstract

BackgroundThere is limited national representative evidence on determinants of discrimination towards people living with HIV/AIDS especially, community level factors are not investigated in Ethiopia. Thus, this study aimed to assess individual and community level factors associated with discrimination towards people living with HIV/AIDS among 15 to 49 age people in Ethiopia.MethodA secondary data analysis was done on the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey dataset which were collected cross-sectional. A total of 25,927 15 to 49 age people were included in the analysis. Multi-level mixed-effect logistic regression analysis was done by STATA version 14.0 to identify individual and community-level factors. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to show the strength and direction of association and statistical significance was declared at P value less than 0.05.Resultfrom individual variables, female [AOR=1.47, 95% CI= (1.18, 1.83)], rural dwellers [AOR=1.65, 95% CI= ( 1.23, 2.21)], not attend education[AOR=5.88,95% CI= (4.50, 7.67)], attending primary education [AOR=3.03, 95% CI= (2.40, 3.81)] and attending secondary education [AOR=1.48, 95% CI= ( 1.19, 1.82)] have discrimination attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS. From community level factors, live in low proportion of educated communities [AOR=1.33, 95% CI= (1.01, 1.65)], live in low proportion of HIV tested communities [AOR=1.61, 95% CI= (1.33, 1.93)] were significantly associated with people living with HIV/AIDS.Conclusionsex of the respondent, religion, educational status, house hold wealth index, marital status, media exposure, internet use, HIV test status, region, residence, community level of education and community level of HIV test status have significant association with HIV related stigma in Ethiopia. Improving educational coverage, improving community level HIV/AIDS test coverage are important interventions to reduce discrimination towards people living with HIV/AIDS in the country.

Hotspots and determinants of women’s discriminatory attitude towards people living with HIV; evidence from ethiopian demographic and health survey data

“…On the other hand, married individuals have a more discriminatory attitude toward HIV/AIDS than unmarried women. This is comparable with studies done in Ethiopia [ 1 ],…”

“…Regarding the educational status, women with formal education had fewer odds of discriminatory attitudes towards PLWH. This is supported by other studies findings from Ethiopia [ 1 , 26 , 34 ], Kenya [ 35 ],and Nigeria [ 36 ] where better educational status was negatively associated with discriminatory attitudes towards PLWH. This might be justified by those individuals with better education who may have access to better information through mass media, the internet, and access to health services related to HIV/AIDS and that will help them to care for and be compassionate for PLWH [ 1 ].…”

“…Women who were not exposed to media had 1.3 times more odds of discriminatory attitudes as compared to those exposed. This is supported by other findings from Ethiopia [ 1 , 26 ] which might be explained by the fact that women with better media access may have better comprehensive HIV knowledge which can prevent them to avoid unnecessary behaviors like discrimination and stigma and dilutes pre-existing misconceptions regarding HIV/AIDS [ 1 , 33 ].…”

“…Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a medical as well as a social issue[ 1 ].Globally, roughly 37.6 million individuals are living with HIV by the year 2020 and around 5000 young women between the ages of 15 and 24 become infected with HIV every week [ 2 ].…”

“…Important factors influencing discriminatory attitudes towards PLWHA are educational status, economic status, employment status, internet use, residence, media exposure, HIV testing, marital status, region, high-risk taking behavior, individuals associated with stigmatized identities, sources of HIV infection, stage of the disease, and relationship with an infected person [ 1 , 6 , 16 , 17 ].…”