Estigma e discriminação: experiências de mulheres HIV positivo nos bairros populares de Maputo, Moçambique

Factors related to the perceived stigmatization of people living with HIV

“…In relation to the Stigma Scale, the highest mean distribution values of means and medians in the disclosure domain were similar to those of another study with adults living with HIV (10) , and one performed with young American adolescents and young adults recently diagnosed with HIV (15) , showing that seropositivity disclosure is still an important difficulty experienced by HIV positive people (4,9) marked by fear of non-acceptance, as well as feelings of guilt and shame (5,9) . In the analysis stratified by domain, we found that the age group between 40 and 49 years of age and previous hospitalization due to complications from HIV/AIDS contributed to stigmatization in the overall score, and for the "personalized stigma" and "negative self-image" domains.…”

“…The characteristics found in this population were similar to those of other national and international studies with people living with HIV, being predominantly adult males with low education and income (9,(11)(12) , heterosexual (2,7) , with the presence of sexual partners (13) , low drug use (13) , with good adherence to ART (13)(14) and low incidence of comorbidities (14) , where the majority chose to disclose the diagnosis of HIV infection only to family members (4,14) . In relation to the Stigma Scale, the highest mean distribution values of means and medians in the disclosure domain were similar to those of another study with adults living with HIV (10) , and one performed with young American adolescents and young adults recently diagnosed with HIV (15) , showing that seropositivity disclosure is still an important difficulty experienced by HIV positive people (4,9) marked by fear of non-acceptance, as well as feelings of guilt and shame (5,9) .…”

“…Despite epidemiological indicators pointing to a reduction in the number of cases of the disease in the country and in other regions, its stigma is still seen as a major barrier for infection control (6) . In fact, in addition to causing financial deficits due to the risk of employees being fired (4)(5) , the disease can also interfere with affective and social relationships due to feelings of guilt and shame which leads to the isolation of these individuals (1,(4)(5)9) , affecting adherence to clinical and antiretroviral follow-up by many HIV positive persons (1) . In view of the above and the need for understanding aspects related to stigmatization, the objective of this study was to analyze factors related to the perceived stigmatization of people living with HIV.…”

Partner notification for sexually transmitted infections and perception of notified partners

“…Thus, efforts should be focused on morally balancing the benefits and consequences of this action (7) . Regarding the relationship between partner notification and gender, studies highlight other obstacles to HIV diagnosis notification to sexual partners, such as fear of violence or being accused of cheating by women with the virus, resulting from gender inequalities (13,(15)(16) .…”

“…On the other hand, HIV infection is still characterized by stigma and fear of transmission. Thus, people are concerned about the disease severity and incurability, a situation that contributes to more concrete actions from health services and the decision of index patients towards partner notification, once the notification may cause questioning, suspicion of cheating and guilt due to transmitted infection (16)(17) .…”