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Ebook HIV/AIDS-related Stigma and Discrimination: A Conceptual Framework and an Agenda for Action

Submitted by puput on Mon, 04/05/2010 - 04:27

In 1987, the late Jonathan Mann, then director of the WHO Global Programme on AIDS, identified three phases of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: the epidemic of HIV, the epidemic of AIDS, and the epidemic of stigma, discrimination, and denial. He noted that the third phase is “as central to the global AIDS challenge as the disease itself” (Mann 1987). Despite international efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS since then, stigma and discrimination (S&D) remain among the most poorly understood aspects of the epidemic. As recently as 2000, Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, identified stigma as a “continuing challenge” that prevents concerted action at community, national, and global levels (Piot 2000).

This poor understanding is due in part to the complexity and diversity of S&D, but also in part to limitations in current thinking within the field and the inadequacy of available theoretical and methodological tools (USAID 2000). The purpose of this paper is to propose a new conceptual framework to help inform thinking about the processes of S&D, about the way these processes relate to HIV/AIDS, and about potential interventions to address S&D and minimize their impact.

To do this, the paper:

  • Analyzes the sources of S&D, the ways in which HIV/AIDS-related S&D manifests itself, and
    the contexts in which HIV/AIDS-related S&D take place.
  • Highlights the limitations of current thinking and argues that S&D need to be understood as social rather than individual processes.
  • Identifies an agenda for research and intervention.

    Contents

    Introduction
    Analyzing Stigma and Discrimination

      What are the sources of stigmatization and discrimination?
      How are stigma and discrimination manifested?

    Developing a New Conceptual Framework

      Why do we need a new way of thinking?

    Identifying an Agenda for Research and Intervention

      What are the implications for research?
      What are the implications for interventions?

    Summary
    References

    Download
    PDF HIV/AIDS-related Stigma and Discrimination: A Conceptual Framework and an Agenda for Action

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