This review paper synthesizes the current information available on HIV status disclosure in terms of rates barriers and outcomes of HIV status disclosure among HIV-infected individuals. Particular emphasis is placed on women's experiences with disclosure to sexual partners. The report also aims to identify major barriers and describe programmatic and policy strategies that have been adopted to address these barriers and support women through the disclosure process.
With increasing efficacy of antiretroviral therapy, HIV/AIDS has shifted from a disease with high mortality to a chronic illness with substantial longevity. However, researchers, physicians and social workers still face many challenges, and it is important to raise awareness on several aspects that people living with HIV/AIDS have to deal in their daily lives. This book has assembled an array of chapters on the medical, social and economic aspects of HIV/AIDS. The chapters were written by experts from around the globe reflecting the importance of the topic. This book will be of great interest not only to graduate students but also to active academics and practitioners.
From the very beginning of the epidemic, AIDS was linked to punishment. Calls to punish people living with HIV—mostly stigmatized minorities—began before doctors had even settled on a name for the disease. Punitive attitudes toward AIDS prompted lawmakers around the country to introduce legislation aimed at criminalizing the behaviors of people living with HIV. Punishing Disease explains how this happened—and its consequences. With the door to criminalizing sickness now open, what other ailments will follow? As lawmakers move to tack on additional diseases such as hepatitis and meningitis to existing law, the question is more than academic.
In what circumstances and on what basis, should those who transmit serious diseases to their sexual partners be criminalised? In this new book Matthew Weait uses English case law as the basis of a more general and critical analysis of the response of the criminal courts to those who have been convicted of transmitting HIV during sex. Examining cases and engaging with the socio-cultural dimensions of HIV/AIDS and sexuality, he provides readers with an important insight into the way in which the criminal courts construct the concepts of harm, risk, causation, blame and responsibility. Taking into account the socio-cultural issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and their interaction with the law, Weait has written an excellent book for postgraduate and undergraduate law and criminology students studying criminal law theory, the trial process, offences against the person, and the politics of criminalisation. The book will also be of interest to health professionals working in the field of HIV/AIDS genito-urinary medicine who want to understand the issues that may face their clients and patients.
The main aim of this practical Handbookis to strengthen counselling and communication skills of skilled attendants (SAs) and other health providers, helping them to effectively discuss with women, families and communities the key issues surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, postnatal and post-abortion care. Counselling for Maternal and Newborn Health Careis divided into three main sections. Part 1 is an introduction which describes the aims and objectives and the general layout of the Handbook. Part 2 describes the counselling process and outlines the six key steps to effective counselling. It explores the counselling context and factors that influence this context including the socio-economic, gender, and cultural environment. A series of guiding principles is introduced and specific counselling skills are outlined. Part 3 focuses on different maternal and newborn health topics, including general care in the home during pregnancy; birth and emergency planning; danger signs in pregnancy; post-abortion care; support during labor; postnatal care of the mother and newborn; family planning counselling; breastfeeding; women with HIV/AIDS; death and bereavement; women and violence; linking with the community. Each Session contains specific aims and objectives, clearly outlining the skills that will be developed and corresponding learning outcomes. Practical activities have been designed to encourage reflection, provoke discussions, build skills and ensure the local relevance of information. There is a review at the end of each session to ensure the SAs have understood the key points before they progress to subsequent sessions.
HIV-related stigma and discrimination and human rights violations constitute great barriers to preventing HIV infection; providing care, support and treatment; and alleviating the impacts of the epidemic. This publication documents case studies of successful action in different countries addressing HIV-related human rights violations, stigma and discrimination.
Public health has a legacy of neglect regarding social and behavioral research. Too often, prompted by technical and scientific progress, we have ignored even marginalized-the vital "human element" in health thinking and prac tice. Thus, for example, while family planning programs focused on providing a choice among safe and effective contraceptive methods (a supremely worthy goal), the central issue of sexuality and sexual behavior was generally neglected. Similarly, the enormous and important efforts to develop rapid and reliable diagnostic and treatment methods for sexually transmitted diseases helped divert attention away from the crucial issues of sexual practice. In short, we seem to have difficulty addressing the fundamental behaviors-including sex, drug taking and other intoxications, and violence-that are central to the major causes of preventable morbidity, disability, and premature mortality in the world today. Our collective reluctance to examine and understand ourselves is also expressed in the oft-repeated pipedream that scientific progress will "take care of" the HIV / AIDS pandemic by delivering a preventive vaccine, an effective cure, or both. Yet even a cursory glance at the relationship between scientific/ technical progress and health shows that meeting the scientific challenges is only one step toward effective application of the vaccine or drug. It is typical, not atypical, that hepatitis B vaccine is only now becoming relatively freely available to large populations in the developing world, more than a decade after the vaccine's licensure.
As the HIV epidemic enters its third decade, it remains one of the most pressing health issues of our time. Many aspects of the disease remain under-researched and inadequate attention has been given to the implications for the relationships and daily lives of those affected by HIV. Disclosing an HIV diagnosis remains a decision process fraught with difficulty and despite encouraging medical advances, an HIV diagnosis creates significant anxiety and distress about one's health, self-identity, and close relationships. This book provides an overarching view of existing research on privacy and disclosure while bringing together two significant areas: self-disclosure as a communication process and the social/relational consequences of HIV/AIDS. The unifying framework is communication privacy management and the focus of this volume is on private voluntary relational disclosure as opposed to forced or public disclosure. Utilizing numerous interviews with HIV patients and their families, the authors examine disclosure in a variety of social contexts, including relationships with intimate partners, families, friends, health workers, and coworkers. Of note are the examinations of predictors of willingness to disclose HIV infection, the message features of disclosure, and the consequences of both disclosure and non-disclosure. This volume, with its personal exercises and sources of additional information, offers an invaluable resource for individuals living with HIV and their significant others, as well as for professionals in the fields of health communication, social and health psychology, family therapy, clinical and counseling psychology, relationship research, infectious disease, and social service.
The AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to affect all facets of life throughout the subcontinent. Deaths related to AIDS have driven down the life expectancy rate of residents in Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda with far-reaching implications. This book details the current state of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and what is known about the behaviors that contribute to the transmission of the HIV infection. It lays out what research is needed and what is necessary to design more effective prevention programs.
