AEGiS-06IAC: The socio - cultural dimension of AIDS in Zimbabwe

6th International AIDS Conference

San Francisco, California, USA — June 20-23, 1990

The socio - cultural dimension of AIDS in Zimbabwe

Int Conf AIDS 1990 Jun 20-23; 6:331 (abstract no. Th.D.820)
Mhloyi G, Mhloyi M; Dexter Enterprises, Harare, Zimbabwe

OBJECTIVE: To identify the psycho-social problems that people with Aids encounter from the time they are diagnosed as HIV+ to the time they die.

METHODS: We identified twenty cases which were HIV+: these cases were at different stages of the development of the syndrome which facilitated the mimicking of a full case. "Participant" observations, open-ended questionnaires and hospital records were used to collect preliminary data for a 2 and a half year indepth longitudinal study.

RESULTS: People diagnosed as HIV+ or suffering from AIDS encounter serious problems differentiated by socio-economic status. Some doctors, knowing the gravity of the syndrome, find it difficult to communicate the diagnosis, of the HIV patient which has serious implications on the patient's subsequent "behaviors". Family members of the PWA's normally protect their family member from outside ridicule but not at the expense of themselves being stigmatized. Most community members place a moral judgment on PWA's and their families thereby creating a social barrier between the respective families and the community.

CONCLUSION: These data indicate the need for a comprehensive educational package to assist medical practitioners, traditional healers, family members and the community.

Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, Family, HIV Seropositivity, Social Class, Questionnaires, Zimbabwe, Longitudinal Studies, Human, ethnology, ICA6

900620
ThD820