In response to the HIV epidemics since its onset in 1981, several preventive measures have been applied or employed to combat the epidemics. Up to date, the epidemics have reported limited success and/or increased incidence inspite of various interventions. It is widely known that stigma constitute a major setback to preventive interventions of this disease. This informed, amongst others, information, education and communication (IEC) interventions directed at combating HIV stigma through the enhancement and creation of awareness on HIV knowledge. However, lack of adequate and correct knowledge on HIV and AIDS is believed to be a main pre-cursor to HIV stigma. This cross sectional study therefore investigates and reports findings on the associations between HIV stigma and other relevant variables such as HIV related knowledge, exposure to mass media and some socio-demographic characteristics among representatives of the ethnic groups aged between 18 and 49 in the broader Rustenburg community (N = 351). The study utilized some data collected by the Aurum Institute of Health Research in partnership with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the European Union. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical methods and presented in figures and tables. Independent sample T-tests and ANOVA were employed to compare means while the Pearson’s product moment was used to find the association between variables. A standard multiple regression analysis was applied to assess the predictors of HIV/AIDS stigma. Findings from the study showed an adequate knowledge of HIV/AIDS as 72.8% scored more than 17 out of the 24 basic questions on HIV/AIDS correctly. The respondents’ overall mean HIV/AIDS knowledge score was 18.22±3.80 out of 24 points. However there was a deficit in knowledge on the preventive role of male circumcision in HIV transmission (27.6%) and the high chance of getting HIV infection from sexual intercourse with a recently HIV infected individual (48.4%). Misconceptions existed among the respondents about the association between ritual cleansing of widows and HIV transmission (43.0%) and the stopping of ART at will due to side effects (54.1%). With respect to knowledge acquisition, the leading source of information is the electronic media (52.9% for radio, 75.8% for TV and 81.4% for cell phone) while newspapers (17.2%) are a minor source. Regarding HIV stigma, the findings revealed that HIV stigma is intertwined with other contextual stigmas of gender and sexual immorality. There was a high prevalence in the attribution of blame on female prostitution and promiscuity for the cause of HIV infection in this study. Furthermore, the findings in this study showed very pronounced negative stigmatising attitudes towards HIV infected women in the community especially in relation to child bearing. Levels of HIV/AIDS knowledge and AIDS stigma were influenced by education, perceived socio-economic status, living standard, media exposure, racial differences and employment status (p<0.05). The study revealed that there was a significant main effect of age group (18-24, 25-35, 36-49), specifically with knowledge regarding HIV transmission and the physiological impact of HIV; social distance towards PLWHA and stigmatising attitude towards HIV infected women.This study underscore the importance of developing and implementing stigma reduction interventions in the community to address attitudinal biases towards PLWHA especially regarding the females by encouraging social cohesion and support, HIV disclosure and involvement of role models, more greater awareness regarding PMTCT. Education on the importance of male circumcision and the long life usage of ART are also of utmost importance. To lend support to the current intervention measures on HIV/AIDS messages via a telephone helpline, there is need of sending text messages as a means of increasing HIV/AIDS knowledge should be encouraged. Finally, there is need for further explorative studies in acceptability, perceptions and barriers to male circumcision; the perceptions of ART and HIV infection and the relevance of ART in HIV stigma as well as AIDS stigma regarding childbearing and HIV infected women. Findings from this study have implications for the reduction of HIV related stigma and prevention. It is hoped that these findings and recommendations will greatly inspire, influence and inform policy makers, communities, stakeholders, empower PLWHA to cope with stigma as well as reduce stigma prevalence in the study area in particular and South Africa. Areas of further research that require urgent attention are also highlighted. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Co-infection with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) is both an indicator of behavioural risk, as well as an indicator of increased risk for infection with HIV. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The overall aim of the study is to profile the demographic data, health seeking behaviour, sexual risk behaviour and HIV awareness and willingness to test in a sample of STI clinic attendees in order to inform intervention programmes aimed at reducing the burden of disease in this group, thereby reducing HIV risk. It is hypothesised that those individuals who are poorly informed about key prevention information (particularly regarding the biological susceptibility to HIV infection when co-infected with an STI), who are poorly motivated due to poor attitudes towards or lack of social norms in favour of prevention behaviour, and who lack some key behaviour skills (like skills for identifying STIs early, or negotiating safer sexual practises) will be less likely to be able to initiate and maintain specific prevention behaviours. Data are collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed in relation to the Information-Motivation Behavioural Skills (IMB) model of HIV prevention behaviour. This model was specifically developed to provide a conceptual framework for the design, implementation and assessment of targeted and empirically focussed interventions to change sexual risk behaviour in HIV. Components of the IMB model that are identified as important in contributing to risk of infection in this group are identified. Finally, recommendations regarding the form and content of an intervention in this group are made. The study concludes that STI clinics may be excellent environments within which to implement HIV risk reduction pehavioural interventions which currently may be missed opportunities. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Thesis (MPhil (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The impact of HIV/AIDS on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is little known in South Africa. SMEs are arguably the largest employer, nationally, particularly in the Western Cape. Unfortunately, SMEs fall within the profile of businesses that have neither measured the prevalence and impact of HIV/AIDS on their businesses, nor devised a response to it. Realizing the risks and costs posed by HIV/AIDS in their business partners, chief executive officers of Western Cape corporate employers, signed a pledge to mentor SMEs. This paper focuses specifically on the mentorship programme of South African Breweries (SAB), which uses taverns and shebeens as a platform for education and awareness programmes in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This was a comparison study, which measured the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of trained and untrained tavern owners in four geographical areas to determine how business has responded to the epidemic. A quantitative research approach was used. The study revealed that the experimental group (trained tavern owners) displayed greater basic knowledge and understanding of HIV and AIDS, than the control group (untrained tavern owners). Some of the challenges facing workplace programmes were the involvement in programmes without enough information. The study concluded that without capacity building through methods such as instruction, coaching, providing experience, modeling, advising, training, information sharing and resources by corporates, the negative impact of HIV/AIDS in SMEs will not be mitigated. While the survey results suggest the need for greater involvement by corporates in mentoring programmes, further research on the role of the private sector in HIV/AIDS management is necessary.

As the second decade of AIDS draws to a close, researchers and others involved in the AIDS effort have come to appreciate that complex interactions between social, cultural, biological and economic forces are involved in shaping the epidemiological course of the disease. Nevertheless, the process by which these variables interact and affect each other remains poorly understood, with many of the shaping forces yet to be fully explored. In South Africa, the sociocultural matrix in which the AIDS epidemic is embedded and its role in shaping the interpretation and experience of AIDS have not been fully analyzed. This thesis represents an attempt to elucidate the finer nuances of some commonly-held local beliefs, perceptions, symbolic representations, ethnomedical explanatory models and mythologies associated with AIDS. These associations are viewed as directly informing the way in which Zulu-speaking people are experiencing and responding to HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu Natal, currently home to 1/3 of the country's estimated 3 million HIV infected people. In particular, the focus is on the gender patterning of AIDS, with ethnographic data drawn from extensive field experience at St Wendolin's Mission, a peri-urban settlement in the Marianhill district of Durban. The shared perception of women as naturally 'dirty', as sexually 'out of control' and suspected of using witchcraft in new ways, are identified and discussed as key conceptual strands contributing to the sociocultural construction of HIV/AIDS in that community. It is argued that these notions are metaphorically joining and combining in ways that 'gender' the AIDS epidemic and simultaneously 'demonize' women. The central tenet of this thesis is that HIV/AIDS is fundamentally associated with women as a female caused and transmitted disease that can and does affect men. The author argues that the gendered construction of AIDS in St Wendolin's is a reflection of patriarchal resistance to women's changing roles and expectations that represent an overstepping of culturally defined moral boundaries. Deeply embedded ways of thinking associated with notions of gender are viewed as germane to the disempowerment of women that ultimately impedes the fight against HIV/AIDS. The thesis concludes with a discussion on the opportunity which the current AIDS epidemic presents for wider sociocultural transformation, and how this might be achieved through an AIDS 'education for liberation' based on the philosophies of Paulo Freire. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

This exploratory qualitative study investigates possible barriers to HIV preventive behavior amongst Zulu-speaking, black adolescent males, aged 15-23, in township secondary schools in Durban, South Africa. Perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and practices concerning HIV prevention and transmission are elicited using semi-structured focus groups and mixed open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires. Thematic analysis of the data is used to identify possible barriers to protection. Issues specifically investigated are condom use and multiple sexual partners. Belief in the ability to choose uninfected girlfriends, a distrust of and misperceptions about condoms, the importance of trust to a sexual relationship, false optimism engendered by fast-spreading myths about cures, and skewed risk perception engendered by conspiracy theory narratives and overestimation of the severity of the epidemic were found to be possible barriers to protection amongst males and controlling the spread of HIV. A discussion of these barriers ensues the results. / Thesis (M.Dev.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

The aim of this study was to establish a new understanding of the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS at the municipal level, but at the same time upholding the anonymity of the HIV infected and AIDS sufferers. Innovative research techniques such as the use of GIS (geographic information systems) as a research tool contributed to disclosing the patterns of the HIV pandemic in the Nelson Mandela Metropole that were not obvious or visible before. GIS involved geographic maps that detect the spatial relationship between HIV prevalence rates and vectors that drive the pandemic.

<p>This study investigated the societal perception of refugee men as being a risk group, being polluted and the consequent risk of HIV infection they might face. It also determined the factors that could expose them to the risk of HIV infection while living in exile in South Africa.</p>

<p>This study explored the perceptions of black South African women residing in Khayelitsha, Site B, about thinness, HIV./AIDS and body image. Obesity is a major public health problem in developed as well as developing countries. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been escalating in Sub-Saharan Africa and has been said to be the leading cause of death in South Africa.</p>

Thesis (MSc (Genetics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The results of pharmacotherapy can vary both within and between different populations and ethnic groups. Although numerous factors are believed responsible for observed discrepancies in drug response, genetic differences, most often in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), between individuals and ethnic groups are an important and at times predominant factor. The response to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infection is not dissimilar. Marked variations in both ARV efficacy and occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) have been observed on both an individual and ethnic group level, which are largely attributed to polymorphisms within genes involved in the metabolism and transport of these compounds – such genes include the CYP2B6 and CYP3A4 genes, both members of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) gene superfamily, and the multidrug-resistance 1 (MDR1) gene encoding an efflux transporter protein, phosphoglycoprotein (PGP). An improved understanding of the genetic influences on ARV drug response could lead to improved therapies with fewer side-effects and minimised drug resistance. The main aim of this study was thus to investigate the genetic basis of observed differences in ARV therapy (ART) response in South African ethnic groups. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples were collected from 206 HIV-positive individuals of Mixed-Ancestry and Xhosa ethnicity that were currently or prospectively receiving ART. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was employed to screen the A-392G SNP in CYP3A4, the G516T and A785G SNPs in CYP2B6, and the T-129C, C1236T, G2677T/A and C3435T SNPs in MDR1. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and haplotype analyses were subsequently performed on the resultant SNP genotype and ...

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: HIV/AIDS has been seen as a thorn in the Corporate World's flesh. It is destroying the workforce like a swarm of locust on a wheat field. The Government Departmental Sectors are no exceptions. This paper has been written after a through project that was undertaken at the Department of Transport and Public Works in Cape Town. It was found that there is a great need for HIV/AIDS Education and Life skills Training amongst all Government Departments. The objectives of the researcher were also based on the ILO's document and our South African Labour Law. The employees at 7 (Seven) District Offices were educated and workshoped on HIV/AIDS Education. It was impossible to have all three Employee Assistant Programmes conducted within 7 (Seven) months of the project. The programmes for HIV/AIDS Education and Training entailed Pre-Awareness, Awareness and Post-Awareness. Only the Pre- Awareness programme was completed with a bit of Awareness was covered. In the workplace situation, time means money and it seems as if less time is allocated to the health part of the employees. Common and better methods in facilitating for HIV/AIDS Education and Trainings were by "Cascade Model, On-Job-Training (OJT) or Front Line Training (FLT) and Workshop Sessions" seem to be more appropriate, yielding better communication skills between the employees and employers. A simple questionnaire was constructed on the basis that the sample group was workshopped. The response was great and constructive comments were received from the employees, for example a question was "Do you find it good to celebrate the 09th - 15th February: Condom Week; 16th May: International AIDS Candle Memorial Day and 01st December: World AIDS Day"? Answer: YES - It creates awareness and unites people for the same course. It became interesting to the researcher in noticing how HIV/AIDS Education and Life Skills Training(HAELST) is very much needed in both Corporate/Private Sectors and Government Departments. In conclusion, recommendations are suggested to all Government Departmental and Private Sectors in HIV/AIDS Education and Training. The ball remains in the Corporate World to apply them as a tool to avoid loosing well qualified and skilful employees because of HIV/AIDS. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om die noodsaaklikheid van opleiding aan regeringsinstansies in MIV/Vigs en lewensvaardighede te beklemtoon. Die studie het op die Departement van Vervoer en Openbare Sake gefokus. Werknemers van 7 distrikskantore het werkswinkels in die verband bygewoon. Die werkswinkels het hoofsaaklik op voor-bewustheid, bewustheid en na-bewustheid van MIV/Vigs gefokus. Die data is deur middel van ‘n vraelys ingesamel wat die proefpersone na afloop van die werkswinkel voltooi het. Dit is bevind dat daar ‘n geweldige behoefte vir MIV/Vigs en lewensvaardigheid opleiding by privaat- sowel as regeringsinstansies is. Die aanbeveling is dat die instansies hul werknemers in die verband moet oplei op te verhoed dat hul gekwalifiseerde en vaardige werknemers as gevolg van MIV/Vigs verloor.