Basic HIV Course for Health Professionals Session 4
Basic HIV Course for Health Professionals Session 4: Stigma and Discrimination
Learning Objectives By the end of this session participants should be able to: • Define stigma and discrimination • List at least two types of HIV-related stigma and discrimination • Identify how stigma affects PLWHA • Explain at least two strategies to address stigma
Stigma Overview Activity
Types of Stigma Activity
Types of Stigma (1) Type of Stigma Description Individual-Level Stigma • self-isolation, feeling like an outsider, avoiding others • fear of harassment, rejection, abandonment Household and Family-Level Stigma • physical, verbal, economic, or psychological abuse, withdrawal of care, support, and treatment for PLHIV, rejection, eviction, blame, bitterness Community-Level • shunning, excluding or gossiping about PLHIV; attacking Stigma PLHIV verbally or physically; labelling PLHIV as irresponsible; blaming PLWHA for infection Education-Setting • teasing children with HIV or excluding infected family Stigma members from collective activities
Types of Stigma (2) Type of Stigma Description Workplace-Setting • Pre-employment screening and/or denial of Stigma employment; termination of employment; denied access to training and promotion; gossip; or isolation from services (e. g. , separate toilets) Religious-Setting Stigma • segregation, discrimination or denial of religious services/rites Healthcare Setting • delayed or withheld treatment; premature discharge; Stigma refusal to be admitted for care; testing without consent; breach of confidentiality; non-attendance to patients or inappropriate handling.
Effects of Stigma • has been identified as a serious impediment to addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic • constitutes a central barrier to the effective prevention and management of HIV and AIDS • reduces the impact of prevention programs and inhibits treatment uptake and adherence • HIV/AIDS-related stigma threatens to undermine interventions to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS
Discrimination unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. Type Physical Social Language/ verbal Description • Isolation and violence • Social isolation, loss of identity/social role • Gossip, taunting, expressions of blame and shame, labelling, using negative words to describe PLWHA Institutional • Loss of livelihood/future, loss of housing, differential treatment in schools, health care settings Discrimination • In some societies, laws, rules and policies have been set to in HIV and discriminate against PLHIV, e. g. compulsory HIV screening AIDS • Required HIV screening for certain jobs denies confidentiality and privacy
Case Studies
Any Questions? Thank you!
- Slides: 10