African American Stigma

Many people are unaware of their health status further increasing transmission of disease in young adult African American(AA) women age 18-24. Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) infects and also destroy blood cells (i.e. lymphocytes) that the body need to fight off infection (Mays 2011). African American women HIV positive, age 18-24 the magnitude of issue of the health disparity in this particular population will be addressed along with the many factors of social and health determinants. The health concern is towards the increase of transmission among young AA mothers and their children who are the health outcomes in many ways than one. The many social and health determinants that affect the women today are on going cycles that have yet to be broken. African American women make 64% of new infection cases for HIV. African american obtain a vulnerability unlike other minorities. The health population’s culture and stigma has played an important role in the community. The concern for AA women is the increase of new cases and most importantly the spread of the disease to these women’s children. The mortality rate of AA women with HIV is 47.1% as of 2012. (Siddiqi 2015)

African Americans have worst health outcomes of all major racial, ethnic and demographic groups in the U.S. According to Gaston & Alleyne-Green (2013), an estimated 233,624 African Americans died from AIDS-related illness in 2007, yet they are less likely to receive antiretroviral medications, are more likely to report poor adherence to medication regimens, and have a disproportionally higher HIV-related morbidity and mortality rate than their White and Hispanic

HIV is a detrimental disease in the African-American community. During the 1980s HIV was on the rise as many people were uneducated about the virus itself and how the virus was contracted. Precious contracted HIV from her mother's boyfriend, which is more difficult to handle when you live in a state of poverty. Precious had limited funds and limited health care options. If an individual contracts HIV in 2016 there are medications that can prolong their life and keep them comfortable unlike the resources available in the 1980s. According to Rao and colleagues, African-Americans face many downfalls with HIV due to difficulty accessing proper care and medication (2016). Rao address that there is a stigma associated with HIV, as well as African-Americans,

Low-income Americans and racial and ethnic minorities have higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options, and reduced access to care.(1) Disparities already apparent among these groups will continue to increase with high unemployment rates. Globally the wealth gap is widening causing inequalities in resource access which disproportionately affects the quality of life of the impoverished. The origins of poor health for millions worldwide are rooted in economic, social and political injustices. While poverty is linked to higher risk for numerous adverse health effects, it is usually not directly addressed in public health interventions. Domestically and internationally HIV is rooted in economic and social inequity, as it impacts those of

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) along with other sexually transmitted infections (STI) have emerged as a health epidemic over the recent decades and continue to threaten the lives of people today. In order to better understand the virus and other STIs, in terms of the populations they affect, it is important to observe the diverse risk factors among different genders and ethnicities that are HIV positive. One vital consideration for a study of this nature is the difference in HIV-positive care provided between genders. By examining the disparities that exist within STI treatment across the variables of gender and ethnicity, information for various people of age, gender and race have more viable information to use. Therefore, careful examination of the trends in equity (or lack thereof) across education programs and care for different gender and ethnicity groups, can lead to important changes that can be made for better health treatment of all people. However, not all groups of people can be treated entirely equally. For example, risk factors for transmission of HIV have been known to shift according to gender trends and remain higher for some ethnic groups than others. Effective public health interventions will need to combat overt discrimination in treatment while balancing the influence of known trends across these two broad variables in order to manage a positive output for clients.

HIV is a personal experience, but too often HIV care is seen as the burden of the individual, a situation that the person brought on themselves (Melton, 2011). However, one's personal experience is often larger than just the individual. The burden of finding relevant HIV information and care should never be placed solely on the shoulders of those grappling with the disease and the stigma attached to it. Just as social constructions and institutional inadequacies have gotten HIV positive black women to the point where they must find support within their own community, the repair of those institutions and rejection of those social constructions will aid HIV positive black women. The resilience of black women and what they have learned just by talking to each other will be crucial in the success of HIV programming, which should rely on an understanding of medicine and as well as an appreciation of the lived experiences of black women living with HIV. Black women, HIV programs, medical professionals, and even lawmaking bodies can and should work together to disseminate knowledge and form the best possible plan of action to reach HIV positive black women (Purcell & McCree, 2009). HIV outreach is not a zero-sum game; in order to achieve lower rates of HIV and more knowledge in the hands of HIV positive black women, cooperation is truly

Patients that are diagnosed with HIV and eventually AIDS often become stigmatized and experience discrimination in Latin America. These roots of stigma and discrimination are founded in societal inequalities embedded with the complex relationship between socioeconomic status, political policies, and cultural values. A stigma can be described as the identification a social group makes about an individual based on the physical deformities, character faults, and family lineages (race, nation, or religion) that are not part of the norms of society (Goffman 2009:4-7). This, in turn, causes the discrimination the individual faces, but more importantly alters their interpretation of themselves within society.

The problem or focus of this study is to explore themes related with a primary barrier to sexual communication, and effective HIV prevention. Because of the high percentage of individuals who are unaware of their HIV status and the HIV infection rates, prevention strategies have been geared toward routine HIV testing for HIV positive individuals (Bird, & Viosin, 2013). It is believed that an HIV positive status is less stigmatized as a result of these procedures (Bird, & Viosin, 2013). Even with HIV status being less stigmatized, negative views still exist. Infected individuals are facing discrimination from friends, family, co-workers, and strangers (Bird, & Viosin, 2013).

With the recent passing of World AIDS day on December 1st, 2015, which followed Charlie Sheen’s recent disclosure of him being HIV-positive, revealed sad realties about society’s relations to HIV and AIDS. So it seems opportune that this paper shed some light on the issue of stigma in relation to HIV and AIDS. This paper supports the notions that although stigma around HIV status has come a long way since its inception as an infectious disease in the 1980s, HIV stigma has not yet come to an end. As Sheen outlines “It’s a hard three letters to absorb” (aidslaws.ca) which is mainly due to the misunderstanding of the disease which takes the form of stigma. Essentially, this paper argues that although not as overt as in the 20th century, HIV stigma has drastic ramifications for individuals infected and largely the stigma tends to impact the individual affected in an undesirable manner.

Many people residing in the inner city live in poverty, may be uninsured or underinsured, and have poor access to health care (Flash et al., 2014). If a woman does contract HIV, she may not know the symptoms associated with the disease and not reach out for medical attention. Mental health is a factor that receives little attention. Adolescents who have depression or low-self esteem are correlated to using of illegal drugs, engaging in sexual behavior, and for developing of AIDS (Azzarto, 1997).

Throughout Ecology of HIV/AIDS in the Rural South, my peers and I been taught about the vast disparity between HIV/AIDS incidence and prevalence rates in the Rural South in comparison to the rest of the United States. More specifically, this divide encompasses many factors; such as race, socioeconomic status, education level, and access to health care. One cannot contract HIV/AIDS from being African-American, using drugs intravenously, or homosexuality. But, one can contract HIV/AIDS from birth, unsanitary needles and unprotected sexual intercourse. It is in these risk factors where the HIV/AIDS disease is bred and festers over time, usually asymptomatic in the early stages before developing into a visible illness that is associated with mortality, stigma and discrimination. HIV is more than a disease; it is an epidemic plaguing numerous citizens across America, with the majority localized to the Rural South.

HIV/AIDS is a health concern and despite the knowledge of the disease, the infections are increasing especially amongst Blacks. This topic is particularly of interest to me because I feel that there is a greater need to apply sociology to explain why the rate of infections is increasing amongst certain demographics principally in the blacks/African American in the United States and not the people of whiteness. Blacks/ African Americans are not to blame for the HIV/AIDS, the social environment in which they live affects the individuals and in turn the way they think, act and behave. Corresponding to Lisa McIntyre (The Practical Skeptic, 2011), the sociological concept of social imagination “disregards biases against individuals and appeals to sources outside the individual” or social forces to explain behavior (p.31) furthermore, the concept of social imagination allows one to tackle the problems from the grassroots and promises significant change in the results.

“Southern Africa is the most affected region accounting for more than 70% of the global total of new infections” (WHO, 2012). As worrisome as these numbers are, researches have shown that HIV/AIDS disproportionately affect more women than men. “For every ten men infected, 13 women are HIV positive” (UNAID, 2013). This has additional implications for mother- child transmission which has been listed as one of the ways that the disease is spread. South Africa is still battling the remnants of racial discrimination that plagued the country’s recent history. This racial divide is evident in the trend of this disease as well. According to a recent UNAIDS report, “13.6% of black South Africans are HIV positive, whereas only 0.3% of whites living in South Africa has the disease” (UNAIDS, 2013).

HIV infection has progressively become an epidemic disease, spreading virtually to all social classes. Every year, high new-infection rates are reported even

HIV/AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a devastating disease, the scope and depth having no boundaries, permeating into many areas of the world, oblivious to social class, lifestyle, or culture. Initially reported in 1981, HIV/ AIDS rapidly spread and by 1987, 100 countries conveyed the presence of HIV/AIDS. (Maurer & Smith, 2009). “By 2001, it was the leading infectious cause of death in the world, killing almost 3 million people, and by 2002, approximately 5 million people were infected with HIV, including 2 million women and 800,000 children younger than 15 years of age” (Maurer & Smith, 2009, p. 121).