The background to thr article is that, the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) - related stigma tends to create a vicious cycle of fear, ignorance, mistrust, misinformation, denial and self-isolation, which tend to further spread the virus because stigma affects the way people will take their treatment. The objective of this study was to assess the forms of stigma, and determine the role of stigma and other factors among HIV and the Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients on Anti- Retroviral Therapy (ART) in Limbe Health District. For the method, a cross-sectional design with a sample size of 389 was used. Interviewer- administered questionnaire was used to collect data from HIV and AIDS patients belonging to HIV support groups in Limbe Health District found at the treatment centre of the Limbe Regional Hospital. Data was collected on socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, forms of stigma and factors in association. Data was analyzed using STATA version 7.0. Results have shown that in all, stigma was experienced by 76.7% respondents. Among this group, self-stigma was experienced by 95% of the respondents while 28% experienced external stigma. Majority of respondents (92.8%) admitted it was not easy to disclose their status, 7.2% felt dirty while 20.05% felt guilty of contracting HIV. Association of overall stigma with adherence to treatment showed no statistical significance, however respondents who did not experience self-stigma were more adherent (76.9%) than those who experienced overall stigma (71.01%). It can thus be concluded that people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) belonging to HIV support groups in LHD experienced both internalized and external stigma, with the former experienced by almost all the respondents. Although stigma was not significantly associated with adherence to treatment, the very high level of internalized stigma warrants the implementation of stigma reduction measures.
DOI | 10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11 |
Published in | American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 1, February 2020) |
Page(s) | 1-8 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
HIV/AIDS, Stigma Experiences, Effects
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APA Style
Ngwi Constance Tamungang, Nde Fon Peter, Ndeso x Fon Peter, Mary Bi Suh Atanga. (2020). HIV Related Stigma Among People Living with HIV and AIDS in Limbe Health District, Cameroon. American Journal of Life Sciences, 8(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11
ACS Style
Ngwi Constance Tamungang; Nde Fon Peter; Ndeso x Fon Peter; Mary Bi Suh Atanga. HIV Related Stigma Among People Living with HIV and AIDS in Limbe Health District, Cameroon. Am. J. Life Sci. 2020, 8(1), 1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11
AMA Style
Ngwi Constance Tamungang, Nde Fon Peter, Ndeso x Fon Peter, Mary Bi Suh Atanga. HIV Related Stigma Among People Living with HIV and AIDS in Limbe Health District, Cameroon. Am J Life Sci. 2020;8(1):1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11
@article{10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11, author = {Ngwi Constance Tamungang and Nde Fon Peter and Ndeso x Fon Peter and Mary Bi Suh Atanga}, title = {HIV Related Stigma Among People Living with HIV and AIDS in Limbe Health District, Cameroon}, journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences}, volume = {8}, number = {1}, pages = {1-8}, doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11}, eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20200801.11}, abstract = {The background to thr article is that, the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) - related stigma tends to create a vicious cycle of fear, ignorance, mistrust, misinformation, denial and self-isolation, which tend to further spread the virus because stigma affects the way people will take their treatment. The objective of this study was to assess the forms of stigma, and determine the role of stigma and other factors among HIV and the Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients on Anti- Retroviral Therapy (ART) in Limbe Health District. For the method, a cross-sectional design with a sample size of 389 was used. Interviewer- administered questionnaire was used to collect data from HIV and AIDS patients belonging to HIV support groups in Limbe Health District found at the treatment centre of the Limbe Regional Hospital. Data was collected on socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, forms of stigma and factors in association. Data was analyzed using STATA version 7.0. Results have shown that in all, stigma was experienced by 76.7% respondents. Among this group, self-stigma was experienced by 95% of the respondents while 28% experienced external stigma. Majority of respondents (92.8%) admitted it was not easy to disclose their status, 7.2% felt dirty while 20.05% felt guilty of contracting HIV. Association of overall stigma with adherence to treatment showed no statistical significance, however respondents who did not experience self-stigma were more adherent (76.9%) than those who experienced overall stigma (71.01%). It can thus be concluded that people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) belonging to HIV support groups in LHD experienced both internalized and external stigma, with the former experienced by almost all the respondents. Although stigma was not significantly associated with adherence to treatment, the very high level of internalized stigma warrants the implementation of stigma reduction measures.}, year = {2020} }
TY - JOUR T1 - HIV Related Stigma Among People Living with HIV and AIDS in Limbe Health District, Cameroon AU - Ngwi Constance Tamungang AU - Nde Fon Peter AU - Ndeso x Fon Peter AU - Mary Bi Suh Atanga Y1 - 2020/03/23 PY - 2020 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11 T2 - American Journal of Life Sciences JF - American Journal of Life Sciences JO - American Journal of Life Sciences SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5737 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20200801.11 AB - The background to thr article is that, the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) - related stigma tends to create a vicious cycle of fear, ignorance, mistrust, misinformation, denial and self-isolation, which tend to further spread the virus because stigma affects the way people will take their treatment. The objective of this study was to assess the forms of stigma, and determine the role of stigma and other factors among HIV and the Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients on Anti- Retroviral Therapy (ART) in Limbe Health District. For the method, a cross-sectional design with a sample size of 389 was used. Interviewer- administered questionnaire was used to collect data from HIV and AIDS patients belonging to HIV support groups in Limbe Health District found at the treatment centre of the Limbe Regional Hospital. Data was collected on socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, forms of stigma and factors in association. Data was analyzed using STATA version 7.0. Results have shown that in all, stigma was experienced by 76.7% respondents. Among this group, self-stigma was experienced by 95% of the respondents while 28% experienced external stigma. Majority of respondents (92.8%) admitted it was not easy to disclose their status, 7.2% felt dirty while 20.05% felt guilty of contracting HIV. Association of overall stigma with adherence to treatment showed no statistical significance, however respondents who did not experience self-stigma were more adherent (76.9%) than those who experienced overall stigma (71.01%). It can thus be concluded that people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) belonging to HIV support groups in LHD experienced both internalized and external stigma, with the former experienced by almost all the respondents. Although stigma was not significantly associated with adherence to treatment, the very high level of internalized stigma warrants the implementation of stigma reduction measures. VL - 8 IS - 1 ER -