This qualitative research study focuses explicitly on understanding the experiences and perceptions of urban Aboriginal women living with HIV/AIDS. Stigmatizing attitudes and language have serious impacts upon the lives of HIV-positive Aboriginal women. The ways our society presently addresses the women needs to change. With the insights and assistance of four Aboriginal women living with HIV, this project adds to the presently sparse qualitative literature in this research area. Current research indicates that there are many factors associated with urban Aboriginal women being at higher risk for infection and lower physical and mental health, such as race, socio-economic conditions, isolation, oppression and violence, family history, substance abuse, discrimination, and often the responsibilities of childrearing. However, current research analysis and presentation is insufficient, and more in-depth questions arise. Material was collected using semi-structured, open-ended questioning conversations with the participants. Two guiding research questions were asked: 1) What is it like for you, living with HIV right now? and 2) What would you want other people to learn from your experiences? The women’s stories provide an avenue for participants to voice some of their triumphs and challenges about being an Aboriginal woman living with HIV/AIDS. For the community at large, this is also an opportunity to hear first hand, important information such as this. In this work, I have tried to adhere to the tenets of Indigenous methodologies by allowing the life-stories to resonate as holistic representations. Rather than deconstructing the women’s stories through naturalistic analysis (which continues to categorize and to objectify participants), the stories are viewed through a Health Narrative Topography whereby thematic genres such as Restitution, Chaos, and Quest are illuminated, while also being critically aware of some of the limitations to this framework. Three overarching themes are revealed through the women’s stories: 1) the empowerment and resiliency demonstrated by the participants; 2) the need for cultural competency in a society that continues to stigmatize Aboriginal and HIV-positive women; and, 3) the need for a more holistic approach within society when it comes to education, learning, and healing.

For those living in resource rich countries such as Canada a positive HIV diagnosis no longer means an imminent death. In response to this change, numerous treatment and therapeutic institutions have arisen to assist individuals with managing their illness. Illness narratives then, the stories people tell and retell about their illness experience, are constructed by and within this multiplicity of medical frameworks that can interact in ways that are both complimentary and contradictory. Drawing on ethnographic data obtained through two months of participant observation and seven in-depth interviews at an HIV/AIDS treatment facility in Vancouver, British Columbia I discuss how illness narratives reveal the presence of and an orientation towards the powerful discourses of medicine. Some of the frameworks evident in the narratives I examine include biomedical understandings of health and disease, support group dialogues on self-empowerment, tenets of complementary and alternative medicines, clinical models of low-threshold access to health care, notions of health services as a human right, and addiction treatment concepts. In order to afford a place for the institutional discourses of medicine in my analysis, the subjective experience of illness is contextualized with reference to it’s situatedness amongst the myriad of other voices that both construct and constrain narrative production. Ultimately, I seek to demonstrate how the incorporation of disparate institutional voices into a subjective story of illness reflects the development of a unique orientation to the institutions of medicine an understanding that I conceptualize as medical consciousness.

Background: HIV is increasingly prevalent among youth in the US. Objective: To assess the impact of HIV/AIDS education on health-risk behaviors associated with HIV infection in the state of Georgia. Methods: Descriptive analyses of the 2005 Georgia Student Health Survey were conducted by cross-tabulating the presence of HIV/AIDS education and each of the health-risk behaviors of interest. In addition, a survey with a sample of metro Atlanta health educators that assessed ASK US was conducted and analyzed. Results: The percentage of Georgia high school students that had ever been taught about AIDS or HIV infection in school was 91.8% (n = 1,547).The only self-reported risk factor that appeared to have a relationship with HIV/AIDS education was binge drinking (p = 0.0060). Results of the health educator survey demonstrated that ASK US is a good HIV/AIDS education tool. Conclusions: Although HIV/AIDS education is widespread, the prevalence of various health-risk behaviors remain high and, therefore, different models of HIV/AIDS education may be called for.

Although data shows that the incidence of HIV in India is falling, it is still a prevailing disease in India. The lack of knowledge about HIV and risky behaviors greatly influence the role of HIV transmission among the Indian population. These factors also contribute to the numbers of new HIV infections caused by unprotected sex, which account for 90% of the new HIV infections. Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among the people living with HIV/AIDS also play an important role in HIV transmission. This study was conducted to explore the association between selected demographic variables on HIV related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among people living in five high HIV prevalence states in India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu). This study also examined the association between HIV infection status and HIV related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in those five states. The data used in this study was from 2005-2006 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) collected for India. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to study the association. The results showed that the proportion of people with “high HIV related knowledge” was greater than those who have “low HIV related Knowledge”. However, the proportion of people with “comprehensive knowledge of HIV prevention and transmission” was less. Similarly, a higher proportion of the study population showed “HIV/AIDS related positive attitudes”, however, the proportion of the study population with all 4 positive attitudes towards People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) was lower. Increase in highest education level and wealth was found to be significantly associated with the “high HIV related knowledge”, “have comprehensive knowledge”, “have HIV related positive attitudes”, “have accepting attitudes towards PLHA”, and HIV related “less risky behaviors”. The data has shown that HIV positive males were more likely to have comprehensive knowledge of HIV prevention and transmission compared to HIV positive female. The study also showed that HIV positive individuals were more likely to have all 4 positive attitudes towards PLHA and they were likely to have more risky behaviors, although not statistically significant.

BACKGROUND: HIV-related stigmatizing attitudes are persistent concerns in developing countries and have been shown to fuel the spread of the epidemics. The purpose of this study is to provide a comparative analysis between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in regards to the population’s attitude towards People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the Demographic Health Surveys involving 15,715 Haitians and 55,170 Dominicans from 2005 to 2007 were used. A score of attitudes was established from six items such as the willingness to care for infected relatives, the willingness to buy vegetables from an HIV infected vendor, the perception that HIV patients should be ashamed of themselves, the agreement to blame and force them to keep their serostatus secret and finally the agreement to allow infected teachers to continue their jobs. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate analyses of selected socio-demographic variables were obtained by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). RESULTS: Logistic regression models showed that female Dominicans and male Haitians, respondents of higher socio-economic status and with more accurate HIV-related beliefs were significantly more tolerant towards PLWHA (p<.001). Furthermore, the Dominican Republic’s data analysis suggested that those aged between 30 and 44 years old, living in urban areas and married expressed more tolerance for the HIV- infected individuals. Overall, the attitudes and beliefs of the Haitians adjusted for socio-demographic variables did not differ markedly from the Dominicans. CONCLUSION: The attitudes towards PLWHA seem to be associated with the nature of the HIV-related beliefs in some vulnerable groups. The findings of this study should guide the design of appropriate programs aimed at the education of targeted populations.

No description available.

<p>Women, who are HIV-positive, may transmit the virus to their babis during labour and through breast milk. HIV-positive mothers have to be counselled and encouraged to make informed decisions about the feeding of their babies to avoid this transmission. The feeding choices are exclusive breast-feeding , exclusive formula feeeding or modified feeding. this study focused on the perceptions, knowledge and experiences of breastfeeding women living with HIV/AIDS in the Oshakati district, Northern Namibia. A qualitative descriptive research design was used to conduct the study. The sresaerch was conducted at the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) Clinic, in the intermediate Hospital, Oshakati. The Medical Superitendant of the Hospital gave the researcher permission to conduct the study at the PMTCT clinic. A purposive sample was used consisting of 14 breastfeeding women who are HIV-positive and aged between 15-49 years. the ages of their babies were between one day and six months. The data collected through individual face-face-interviews. The interviews were tape-recorded with the permission of the respondents. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and data were analysed by thematic content analysis. The Health Belief Model guided the description and interpretation of the data. Th study revealed that some women had inadequate knowledge about the transmission of HIV through breastfeeding. Their breastfeeding choices were influennced by their knowledge and perceptions while their experiences were shaped by their relationships with their partners and family.</p>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> <p align="left">Despite wide acceptance of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) as a crucial entry point for the prevention, treatment, care and support of HIV-infected persons / the prevalence of testing in Ethiopia remains very low. A review of the literature identifies the set of factors that influence HIV testing of individuals to include socio-economic and demographic factors, knowledge of HIV/AIDS, risk perception, fear of stigma, social capital and the perceived benefit of VCT. By drawing assumptions based on the known literature, this mini-thesis explores the relationship between VCT usage and the above factors in order to explain the status of HIV testing in Moher and Aklil district, Gurage Zone, Ethiopia. The study hopes to address the dearth of material on VCT and contribute to it in a non-clinical and rural context.</p> </font></font></p>

<p>This mini-thesis seeks to provide a substantiation for the need for a new legal framework for South Africa in order to address prostitution. It will argue that the current legal framework has failed in its desired aims and in addressing prostitution effectively. This mini-thesis critically analyses the underlying reasons for prostitution in South Africa and discovers that it is influenced by a myriad of interrelated factors. The current level of poverty and the prevailing socio-economic paradigm in South Africa have contributed to its complex nature. The demand for prostitution acts as a catalyst for both the further exploitation of prostitutes and women, while making them vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases. I establish that criminalisation alone is not sufficient to address prostitution, especially given the HIV/AIDS epidemic.</p>

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Nigeria has the second highest disease burden of HIV/AIDS in sub Saharan Africa after South Africa with adult HIV prevalence of 4.1%, with an estimated 3,130 million people living with HIV (Male-1,320,000: Female-1,820,000-2010) (FMOH, 2010). The HIV epidemic in Cross River state is 7.1% in 2010; and ranks as the 9th highest in the country. General Hospital Ogoja is one of the secondary level hospitals in Cross River State of Nigeria that offers Comprehensive HIV/AIDS services. Although the prevalence of HIV is very high in Cross River state (7%) that of General Hospital is not readily known. The uptake of HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) among health care workers is relatively low, despite the fact that the awareness of HIV and AIDS in Nigeria by adult population is said to be generally very high (93.8%).The use of condom in the last sex act was low (16%) despite the fact that sexual transmission is the predominant mode of HIV spread in Nigeria (NARHS 2007) To determine whether the knowledge health care workers in GH Ogoja have about HIV/AIDS affect their sexual behaviour; a quantitative approach of research design was used through a questionnaire A total of one hundred and thirty questionnaires were distributed and all were returned. There were few abstentions on some of the questions possibly due to its private nature but generally the overall responses were devoid of inconsistencies and the response rate was well over 98%. The findings from the study showed that greater that 90% of the respondents are quite knowledgeable with the cause of HIV, modes of transmission and prevention of HIV. While the respondents exhibit a high knowledge with respect to modes of transmission through sexual intercourse(96.8%); their knowledge with respect to safer sex practices with use of condom in penetrative sex calls for further review. It would be expected that 100% of all respondent will be fully abreast with information on the modes of transmission of HIV and its prevention. Condom use in stable relationship connotes different meanings to the respondents. While 109(85.2%) of the 128 respondents agreed to the use of condom among couples when the status of one of their partner is unknown. The response to the question on whether the use of condom affects sexual relationship portrays an interesting finding. 71(55.4%) of the total respondents disagreed with the fact that condom use affect sexual relationship while 42(32.8%) respondents agreed. It may not be out of place to assume that a lot of HCWs may not be condomizing effectively based on the impression that condom use during sex affect sexual relationship. Health care workers live and interact freely with other members of the society and are potential bridging group for disseminating HIV into the larger population. The finding from GH Ogoja portrays the fact that though the knowledge of HIV among them is very high their full application of the knowledge with respect to sexual behavioural change is still doubtful. A more qualitative study like focus group discussion will assist in unraveling this observation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nigerië het die tweede grootste voorkoms van MIV in Afrika suid van die Sahara. ‘n Beraamde 3,130 miljoen mense leef na beraming met MIV en die voorkoms in die Cross River Staat van die land was 7.1% in 2010; die negende grootste voorkoms in die land. Die doel van die studie was die bepalin van die kennisvlakke van werkers in die Algemene Hospitaal van Ogoda en ‘n kwantitatiewe benadering en navorsingsontwerp is vir die studie gebruik. ‘n Totaal van 130 vraelyste is geadministreer en ongeveer 90% s terug ontvang. Bevindings van die studie het aangetoon dat meer as 90% van die respondente ‘n bevredigende kennis van MIV het en dat hulle ook goed ingelig is oor die wyses waarop die epidemie versprei word en die metodes waarvolgens verspreiding van die epidemie beperk kan word. Die data van die studie word verder ontleed en meer spesifiekebevindings word gerapporteer. Aabeveling vir die beter opleiding van werkers by die Ogoda Hospitaal word gemaak en voorstelle vir verdere studies word ook gemaak.