Search results

This study examined human resource managers’ knowledge of HIV transmission, their attitudes towards employing persons living with the human immunodeficiency virus (PWHIVs) and disclosure of HIV‐related information. Results indicate that respondents were generally knowledgeable about the transmission of HIV and viewed the employment of PWHIVs as having adverse organisational consequences. With respect to disclosure of HIV‐related information, findings suggest that generally respondents felt that employers should have access to health records of persons infected with HIV while they were more ambivalent about the issue of revealing such information to co‐workers of PWHIVs. Implications of findings for organisations are discussed.

There were 89,708 prisoners in Indonesia in April 2006. The majority were charged for narcotics related crimes. Prisons are working at over‐capacity and with miniscule healthcare budgets. There has been an increase of deaths due to AIDS, particularly among people who inject drugs. Official data shows that HIV prevalence averages 22% in prisons. In late 2002, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) decided to promote HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities for prisoners to prevent the spread of HIV within prisons, and from there to the community as a whole. In 2005, MOJ launched the Indonesian National Strategy for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Support for Prisoners. The Indonesian HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project has been actively involved in the design of these programs and supported their implementation in several prisons, together with other organizations. The Indonesian National Strategy is the first of its kind in Asia, and one of only a few dedicated national strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention and care for prisoners. It has enabled education, as well as the provision of condoms, bleach, methadone and antiretroviral therapy for prisoners. This paper describes the National Strategy for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Support for Prisoners, which will help control the HIVepidemic among people who inject drugs and ultimately be beneficial for the community as a whole.

HIV prevention campaigns have focused on condom distribution and the dissemination of HIV‐related knowledge, with the goal to reduce risky sexual behavior. However, very little empirical work has been done to reveal any possible association between HIV‐related knowledge and risky sexual behavior. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to estimate such associations, using demographic health survey data for India.

The authors estimate multiple binary response models and calculate average partial effects of every treatment (HIV‐related knowledge) on the outcome variable (risky sexual behavior) controlling for socioeconomic characteristics, location of residence, and state specific effects.

Using data from the third wave of the national demographic survey, it is found that better HIV‐related knowledge does not always promote safer sexual practices. While, better HIV knowledge increases the likelihood of condom use, it also increases the likelihood of pre‐marital sex, and reduces the likelihood of abstinence. These effects are much stronger for males when compared to females. These results also suggest, albeit indirectly, that informational and condom distribution campaigns are not necessarily promoting safer sexual practices in India.

One possible limitation of this study is the possibility of endogeneity bias due to omitted variables or reverse causality. The authors follow the literature in the use of controls and interpreted results with caution.

The paper is believed to be the first to derive empirical results relating HIV knowledge and risky sexual behaviour, using a population‐based survey for India.

HIV/AIDS is a serious health threat for prison populations in many countries, and presents significant challenges for prison and public health authorities. This situation is often exacerbated by high rates of hepatitis and/or tuberculosis. The generally accepted principle that prisons and prisoners remain part of the broader community means that the health threat of HIV within prisons, and the health threat outside of prisons, are inextricably linked and demand coordinated action. Yet many countries have not implemented comprehensive HIV prevention programmes in prisons, or achieved a standard of prison healthcare equivalent to the standard outside of prison. In December 2004, the authors were retained by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to prepare an international Framework to address HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment in prisons. The Framework is a tool designed to assist governments meet international obligations on human rights, prison conditions, and public health. It outlines a 100‐point action plan for implementing a response to HIV/AIDS in prisons based on international health and human rights standards, and on evaluated models of good practice.

Attempts to address the gap in literature on the experiences of HIV/AIDS care workers in Africa through studies of professional care givers in Lome, Togo. Uses a pilot study of 30 care givers and examines the roles, services and coping mechanisms of these individuals. Presents the demographics characteristics of the care givers and the type of services provided. Discusses how they cope with stress and their feeling regarding the prevention of HIV. Concludes they face enormous demands which may affect their own health and families. Suggests that a support network would be helpful.

HIV/AIDS is a serious problem for prison populations across Europe and Central Asia. In most countries, rates of HIV infection are many times higher among prisoners than among the population outside prisons. This situation is often exacerbated by high rates of hepatitis C and/or (multi‐drug resistant) tuberculosis in many countries. In most cases, high rates of HIV infection are linked to the sharing of injecting equipment both inside and outside prison walls and to unprotected sexual encounters in prison. In a majority of countries, adequate preventive measures have not been introduced in prisons, although they have been successfully introduced in other prison systems and shown to be effective. As a result, people in prison are placed at increased risk of HIV infection, and prisoners living with HIV/AIDS are placed at increased risk of health decline, of co‐infection with hepatitis C and/or tuberculosis, and of early death.

Informed consent, confidentiality, disclosure, policy and the wider consequences of HIV testing are issues explored in this paper concerning a man with learning disabilities who tested positive for HIV. The events and outcomes are summarised, with lessons identified for policy and practice in HIV risk management and adult protection in services for people with learning disabilities.

This article sets out guidelines for psychiatric practice prepared at the request of The Royal College of Psychiatrists. It gives an overview of psychosocial and neuropsychiatric problems in HIV disease, service implications and guidance on HIV screening and testing. Advice is given on the issue of confidentiality in relation to HIV status, the avoidance of infection and general recommendations for implementing the guidelines and the development of any necessary special policies or practices in Mental Health Units.

Stigma remains to be a major barrier to addressing the sustained rise of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in the Philippines. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with other men (MSMs) (G/B/MSM) living with HIV experience compounded stigma due to their sexual identity and HIV seropositive status. The family has been identified as one of the main sources of homonegativity and HIV-related discrimination. Drawing from the family life histories of 31 Filipino MSMs living with HIV, the authors demonstrate the concept of compounding stigma, which posits that the extent and nature of gender- and sexuality-based stigma experienced in early life may potentiate or mitigate the experience of HIV stigma in later life in the context of the family. Narrative analysis of the family life histories reveals a central factor that shaped the sexual development and stigma experiences of MSMs living with HIV: sexual identity visibility in the family (SIVF) – the family’s extent of knowledge and/or acceptance of their sexuality. Three core narratives emerged from the data that categorize informants based on the type of SIVF present in their family life viz. full, partial, and invisible. Results also trace the resultant life trajectories for each core narrative and reveal three forms of compounding stigma: low compounding stigma or compounding acceptance, compounding enacted stigma, and compounding internalized stigma.

HIV and AIDS have had a significant impact on education and society in Botswana. By giving a background of HIV and AIDS in the country and outlining the main response activities in Botswana's education sector, the author provides a detailed foundation for understanding the phenomenon of HIV/AIDS in Botswana as well as the conditions and activities used to respond to this epidemic. The methodology primarily consisted of document analysis of government policies and other documentation as well as research reports of studies conducted on education and HIV and AIDS or related topics.