Stigma as experienced by women accessing prevention of parent-to-child transmission of HIV services in Karnataka, India

• Published in: AIDS care 2010-07, Vol.22 (7), p.836-842
• Main Authors: Rahangdale, Lisa, Banandur, Pradeep, Sreenivas, Amita, Turan, Janet M., Washington, Reynold, Cohen, Craig R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; AIDS; AIDS/HIV; Antiretroviral drugs; Attitude of Health Personnel; Biological and medical sciences; Cultural Characteristics; Disease transmission; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Services Accessibility; HIV; HIV Infections - psychology; HIV Infections - transmission; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human viral diseases; Humans; India; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical - prevention & control; Infectious diseases; Intervention; Interventions; Karnataka; Maternal & child health; Medical sciences; Mental health; PMTCT; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - psychology; Pregnant women; Prevention; Prevention programs; Prevention. Health policy. Planification; Preventive Health Services; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Qualitative Research; Rural Health Services; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Social Stigma; Stigma; Stigmatization; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0954-0121; 1360-0451
• DOI: 10.1080/09540120903499212

In Karnataka, India only one-third of HIV-infected pregnant women received antiretroviral prophylaxis at delivery in 2007 through the state government's prevention of parent-to-child HIV transmission (PPTCT) program. The current qualitative study explored the role of HIV-associated stigma as a barrier to access PPTCT services in the rural northern Karnataka district of Bagalkot using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with HIV-infected women who had participated in the PPTCT program, male and female family members, and HIV service providers. Participants discussed personal experiences, community perceptions of HIV, and decision-making related to accessing PPTCT services. They described stigma toward HIV-infected individuals from multiple sources: healthcare workers; community members; family; and self. Stigma-related behaviors were based on fears of HIV transmission through personal contact and moral judgment. Experience and/or fears of discrimination led pregnant women to avoid using PPTCT interventions. Government, cultural, and historical factors are described as the roots of much the stigma-related behavior in this setting. Based on these formative data, PPTCT program planners should consider further research and interventions aimed at diminishing institutional and interpersonal HIV-associated stigma experienced by pregnant women.