Conspiracy Beliefs about HIV/AIDS among HIV-Positive African-American Patients in Rural Alabama

Abstract

This is apparently the first survey examining endorsement of HIV/ AIDS conspiracy beliefs and their relations to educational attainment among 205 HIV-positive African-American patients receiving care at an AIDS Outreach Organization in Alabama. 31% somewhat or strongly believed that, "AIDS is a form o genocide against African Americans," 29% strongly agreed that "AIDS was created by the government to control the black population," 56.1% agreed that the government is withholding a cure for AIDS, and 69.8% agreed that the government is withholding information about the disease from the public. 52% agreed that "HIV is a manmade virus," and 43.1% that "AIDS was produced in the governments laboratory." Respondents with high school or college education were less likely to endorse conspiracy liefs. Being open and sensitive to questions about conspiracy beliefs plus understanding the historical roots and social context from which such questions arise in African-American communities is needed to counter such beliefs.

HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs and intention to adopt preexposure prophylaxis among black men who have sex with men in Los Angeles

“…These high percentages are consistent with what has been previously reported in studies with African American men, including African American MSM. 9–11, 13, 14 In the present study, almost half (47.3% and 46.6%, respectively) of the sample endorsed two genocidal conspiracy beliefs: “There is a cure for AIDS, but it is being withheld from the poor” and “HIV is a manmade virus.” These findings are consistent with prior studies with African-Americans. 7, 9, 11 and may indicate that black MSM hold a strong belief in the government’s role in perpetuating the HIV/AIDS epidemic among blacks.…”

“…These non-mainstream beliefs about the origin and treatment of HIV/AIDS held by some black people in the U.S. 8–11 should be viewed as rational thinking given the legacy of medical mistreatment, and continued racism and discrimination experienced by African Americans within the health care system. In this study, we examined two distinct types of HIV/AIDS conspiracies (treatment-related and genocidal) and both were independently associated with a lower intention to adopt PrEP.…”

“…7 Multiple studies have documented that high percentages of African Americans endorse HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs. 8–11 In a community sample, 70% of African Americans agreed that “the government is withholding information about the disease from the public”. 11 In another study, 52% of black MSM agreed that “HIV is a manmade virus”.…”

Dissecting the social body: social inequality through AIDS counter-narratives

“…This research documents that approximately one quarter of surveyed populations agree with statements such as "HIV/AIDS is a man-made virus that the federal government made to kill and wipe out this population," and has concluded that conspiracy theories present significant challenges to HIV prevention (Bogart et al, 2010;Bohnert and Latkin, 2009;Zekeri et al, 2009). Following this conclusion, research has moved toward an examination of the effects of conspiracy beliefs on sexual risk behavior, treatment adherence, HIV testing, and vaccine uptake in order to document these theories' specific public health impact.…”

“…Studies have found between 15% and 30% of randomly selected African Americans agree with statements such as "HIV/AIDS is a man-made virus that the federal government made to kill and wipe out black people" (Bogart and Thorburn, 2005;Bohnert and Latkin, 2009;Klonoff and Landrine, 1999;Zekeri et al, 2009). Early research indicated that African Americans who graduate from college were more likely to hold conspiracy views than high-school graduates, and that there is a correlation between conspiracy beliefs and experiences of racism (Klonoff and Landrine, 1999;Waters, 1997), with the hypothesis that those who are more highly educated and who experience racism are more aware of the continuing disparities between African Americans and whites.…”