Stigma of Hiv/Aids

Ever since the first cases of what eventually came to be known as AIDS were diagnosed in the early 1980s, people with HIV/AIDS have been stigmatized. Over time, there have been many misconceptions about this disease. Even though there have been many discoveries, and treatments for HIV have improved over time, there are still many people who understand very little about this disease. This lack of understanding, along with fear, misinformation about how the disease is transmitted, and “moral” judgments made about the types of people who contract HIV, all have led to stigmatization of, and discrimination against, people who are living with HIV/AIDS. Understanding the stigmatization of people with HIV/AIDS is an important social justice issue because that stigmatization can result in people with HIV being insulted, rejected, gossiped about, excluded from family and social activities, fired, and even jailed. People with HIV are no different from people suffering from other chronic diseases. Instead of being alienated, they have a right to be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity.

This deal with addressing the community, family and social networks that people are part of. Nurses should in this case analyze the different social environments that people live in so as to successfully address the AIDs pandemic. This is mainly due to the fact that people may tend to form their attitudes towards the disease depending on their social network. Nurses should form groups, and educate the people as a community, about the effects of the disease on both the community and family, an undertaking which will raise awareness among the community members. This is likely to help the community to be cautious and responsible for their actions, as well as prevent the promotion of any negative values that may increase chances of people in the society acquiring the disease (Levine & What Works Working Group, 2007). Additionally, nursing should address the issue of stigma that family and social networks have towards the AIDs pandemic and those suffering from it, and which hinder people from seeking help and knowing their status (Qubuda & Mphumela, 2009).

In the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” FRONTLINE examines the outbreak of AIDS since its first diagnosed case in 1981. The film investigates different medical, political and social environments under AIDS pandemic in the US and worldwide. The film not only focuses on the scientific research and progress in treating the disease, it also looks at the social stigma, government strategies and public campaigns around different countries.

Popular culture and mainstream media offer misleading and erroneous explanations for drastic dissimilar impact of HIV/AIDS in minority groups. One

With the help of government programs such as the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) as well as multiple other methods of sociological research and social justice work, there have been shifts toward better understanding this disease, those which are living with it, and the societal impact one’s own prejudices can make toward an individual living with AIDS. However, discrepancies still exist within how to properly educate others on the disease, how to recognize it as a disability within the context of our society, and how we must reconcile stigmas that play a role in plaguing any sort of positive conversation on the topic. With well-informed citizens on the issues of HIV and AIDS patients, not only can we reduce the stigma associated with the illness, but also work toward medical advancements that assist those living with HIV in a nondiscriminatory manner.

Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a world range condition, which has a great impact on the society. This essay is going to explore how stigma and discrimination impact on a vulnerable group people, and as well as how health care system impact on this group of people. Furthermore, the essay is focusing on a vulnerable group of people, which are women, living in two districted country: Australia and South Africa. Furthermore, the situation in Australia is represented as a developed country, whereas South Africa is represented the third world, and these two factors of social determinants of health are going to compare and contrast between these two countries. According to the estimated in 2015 by UNIAIDS, there are 6.7 to 7.4 million people living with HIV (PLHIV) in South Africa and the HIV prevalence rate is 18.9% (UNIAIDS, 2015a), and there are 24 to 30 thousands PLHIV in Australia and the HIV prevalence rate is 0.2%(UNIAIDS, 2015b).

The stigma towards HIV positive African-American women also exists within their own communities; unfortunately, this stigma towards these women does not encourage them to come out as HIV positive individuals. The problem with this fear is that it not only worsens the anguish for the sick individual, but also puts the people around the individual at risk. In “Social Context of Rural Women with HIV/AIDS,” authors Kenneth D. Phillips, Linda Moneyham, Sandra P. Thomas, Mary Gunther, Medha Vyavaharkar discuss the significance of the stigma felt by HIV positive women; the authors point out that the existing stigma causes these women to live in secret (2011). In order to keep their illness hidden, they would have to be maintain some form of normalcy with the people around them. Societal stigma plays an important role in the occurrence of HIV; it can be studied by examining the results of “stigma reduction” in African-American communities (Loutfy et al, 2015). HIV stigma reduction is difficult when dealing with African-American women because the stigma of sexism and racism cannot be ignored. One of the other effects of stigma is depression (Logie, James, Tharao, & Loutfy, 2012). In a “multi-method community-based research (CBR) study with Women’s Health in Women’s Hands (WLWH) across Ontario,’’ researchers also found that other forms of stigma like race and gender do correlate with the stigma felt by HIV positive African-American women

HIV is highly prevalent among the United States population, primarily affecting African Americans of all economic levels and age groups. HIV is transmissible through sexual contact and damages the immune system as it interferes with the individual’s capability to fight off any infections or illnesses. Health inequalities that greatly affect the high rates of HIV include but are not limited to: higher rates of poverty, lack of awareness, intercourse within the same sex, having anxiety towards getting tested for STD’s or HIV, as well as being fearful of “coming out”. Local, state, and nationwide organizations are designed to inform and provide assistance to those who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. S.A.A.F. (Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation)

Looking at the specific disease of HIV/AIDS, there is a captivating negative stigma surrounding anyone infected or possibly infected because others are fearful. This stigma is so potent because the disease usually starts from a homosexual and then spreads, attacking

In this chapter I aim to explore support from the community and healthcare providers. According to Logie and Gadalla, (2009) social support is critical in mitigating the negative effects of stigma and discrimination. Black Africans experience more stigma and more vulnerable due to their limited access to coping resources caused by poverty, immigration status and unfamiliarity with a foreign culture (Kelaher, Williams and Manderson, 2001). Support from the Community In the UK, xenophobia and racism have been identified as reasons for discrimination directed towards Africans immigrants living with HIV (Dodds, 2006). It was observed that fear of stigmatisation amongst Black Africans leads to non-disclosure of their HIV status.

AIDS is a worldwide epidemic that has affected and is affecting millions of people. Even though it was not discovered until 1982 many stereotypes have come along with it. Mary Fisher is an AIDS community member and is not afraid to stand up and say so. Defending and helping those with HIV/AIDS and helping them spread the word instead of keeping silent. In 1991 she found out that she had contracted the disease from her second husband and now Fisher is one of the world’s leading activists in the fight against HIV/AIDS. (Newman, 2010)

The battle against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Defiance Syndrome (AIDS) has been devastating, underestimated, and complex. In America, this difficulty surrounding HIV/AIDS is due to the inability of the state to properly educate and protect its citizens from being exposed to this illness. Since the first detection of HIV and AIDS the government aided in the miseducation, stereotypes, and deaths of its citizens by not taking the proper protocols to protect its people. Originally, United States’ government allowed its citizens to believe that HIV and AIDS were strictly related to homosexual relationships. As a result of this misguidance, homophobia increased nationally; thus, shunning the gay community and making it

Discrimination adds to the daily struggles faced by the growing number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States – people who are predominantly poor and disproportionately African American or Latino. Every agency’s biggest problems facing their clients involve meeting basic needs – coping with poverty, hunger, illiteracy, inadequate medical care, lack of transportation, and homelessness. In addition to those basic needs issues, people with HIV face a series of critical civil rights problems. Individuals living with HIV/AIDS need to know their rights and need the resources to advocate for themselves when their rights are threatened. They also need national legal organizations like the ACLU AIDS Project to enforce their civil rights and civil

Undoubtedly, the way individuals act within society is a direct result of the expectation that society places upon them. There are a plethora of ways that an individual can distinguish themselves as conforming to the desires of society or rejecting those desires, those choices heavily impacting the way in which they are perceived by society. In the context of the AIDS epidemic, these ideas of socially ordained responsibility become unavoidable, as matters of public and personal health become a means with which individuals, who have to deal with the implications the epidemic had on society, can be discriminated by. This shifting subjectivity based

Thailand has a rich culture and beautiful tradition. Most of Thai people are still carrying an old traditional belief on how people should live their life. Sometimes, this can affect the Thai’s society as a whole and the all new generation who are looking to improve the way they live their life. If we take a closer look in Thailand’s major health issue, we found out that this old tradition thought lead a whole society to a serious major health problem, which are HIV and AIDs. HIV/AIDs are the biggest major health issue in Thailand that people don’t really want to have, and also they don’t really like to talk about it because it’s embarrassing and shame. Thai people are fear to talk about sex which is the main major cause to spread HIV/Aids because of their old attitude and their religion. In this paper, I will address the two main major causes of HIV in Thailand, the medicine that have been proven to be worked to cure the HIV, and accessible program and medical care that are available to help people who are infected with HIV.