HIV/AIDS across nations

===Lecture Details===
Rosalie Aroni; Week 10 MED1011; Health, Knowledge and Society
===Lecture Content===
30.6-36.1 people living with AIDS worldwide in 2007. Used to be known as Gay Related Immune Disease. Viral load varies between fluids. Results of viral load test is number of viral copies per ml of blood. 50 copies is the lower limit of what tests can pick up. Another infection and recent vaccination can affect number of copies. Women may have lower viral loads than men. HAART is indicated when there are symptoms of HIV, there is neurological HIV, CD4 drops below 200, women with HIV become pregnant, where CD4 and viral load indicate progression. It is important to continually monitor for side effects.
Period 1 (1981-4) is where epidemiology identified spread and behaviours associated with risk of infection. Information campaigns were very explicit and designed to frighten people.
Period 2 (1985-8) focused on individual risk reduction, informing, educating and providing public health and social services to help stimulate, support and sustain individual behaviour change, WHO identified stigma should be removed.
Period 3 (88-present) has efforts to integrate societal dimension with previous efforts. Concept of vulnerability was introduced.
Social responses have been to blame people with HIV/AIDS for their condition, transmission poorly understood in the public arena and is percieved as threatening to members of the general population, signs cannot be concealed and can be reported as ugly. Stigmatisation is based on allowing identification of differentness, construction of stereotypes through labelling and the execution of disapproval and discrimination.
Felt stigma is impact on individual feelings such as shame, guilt, withdrawal, fear of discrimination and potentially self-stigmatisation. Enacted stigma is actual experiences of discrimination- denied access to information, health services, company, support. If disease connotes unfavourable information about a designated individual then social labelling occurs, sets individuals into a distinct category. Stigma can be discreditable (known only to the person with the stigmatising condition) or discredited (cannot be hidden due to its visibility. People respond to stigma rather than the person.
Discrimination is direct if based on characteristics attributed to the individual against whom discrimination is directed, including characteristics on basis of stereotyping. Indirect is based on rules, policies or conditions that do not appear discriminatory but discriminate against particular groups who are unable/less able to comply with conditions. Reactive discrimination is when confronted with someone from a particular group, not intentional or planned. Proactive is intentional and planned, often in policies, procedures or rules that are to exclude certain groups. Passive discrimination is failure to act when needs of groups are not being met.
Scapegoating is discrimination that seeks to subject people to punishment, on the basis that they are to blame for some social evil. Harrassment is subjecting someone to psychological/physiological/emotional discomfort because of some characteristics attributed to him/her. Vilification is making statements about a group on the basis of characteristics or stereotypical assumptions that bring group into hatred, ridicule or contempt.
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