Systematic review and quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis of interventions to address HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

A strong global commitment exists to eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and multiple strategies to reduce or eliminate stigma and discrimination have been tried. Using a PICOTS framework and applying the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria, we undertook a systematic review to determine the success of interventions aiming to address internalized stigma, stigma and discrimination in healthcare, and at the legal or policy level, and to identify their critical success factors. Random effects meta-analyses summarized results wherever possible.

Lived experiences of people living with HIV-A qualitative exploration on the manifestation, drivers, and effects of internalized HIV stigma within the Malawian context.

Introduction: HIV-related internalized stigma remains a major contributor to challenges experienced when accessing and providing HIV diagnosis, care and treatment services. It is a key barrier to effective prevention, treatment and care programs. This study investigated experiences of internalized stigma among people living with HIV in Malawi.

Frameworks and measures for HIV-related internalized stigma, stigma and discrimination in healthcare and in laws and policies: a systematic review.

Introduction: There is strong global commitment to eliminate HIV-related stigma, and work in this area continues to evolve. Wide variation exists in frameworks and measures used.

Methods: Building on the existing knowledge syntheses, we carried out a systematic review to identify frameworks and measures aiming to understand or assess internalized stigma, stigma and discrimination in healthcare, and in law and policy.

Situating HIV Stigma in Health Facility Settings: A Qualitative Study of Experiences and Perceptions of Stigma in 'Clinics' among Healthcare Workers and Service Users in Zambia.

The study focused on the representations, processes and effects of HIV stigma for healthcare workers living with HIV within health facilities in Zambia. A descriptive study design was deployed. A total of 56 health workers and four service user participants responded to a structured questionnaire (n = 50) or took part in key informant interviews (n = 10) in five high HIV-prevalence provinces.

Stigma Reduction Training Improves Healthcare Provider Attitudes Toward, and Experiences of, Young Marginalized People in Bangladesh.

Purpose: Working with health providers to reduce HIV stigma in the healthcare setting is an important strategy to improve service utilization and quality of care, especially for young people who are sexually active before marriage, are sexual minorities, or who sell sex. A stigma reduction training program for health providers in Bangladesh was evaluated.

Methods: A cohort of 300 healthcare providers were given a self-administered questionnaire, then attended a 2-day HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights training (including a 90-minute session on stigma issues).

Linking Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and HIV Services for Young People: The Link Up Project.

Sexual health and access to services are a pressing need for young people. This article introduces Link Up, a 3-year project in three African and two Asian countries, to enable and scale up access to integrated HIV services and sexual and reproductive health and rights for marginalized young people. The young people we worked with in this project included young men who have sex with men, young sex workers, young people who use drugs, young transgender people, young homeless people, and other vulnerable young people.

Searching for the Second R in Sexual and Reproductive Health and … Rights.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights have gained prominence in the HIV response. The role of sexual and reproductive health in underpinning a successful approach to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and services has increasingly been recognized. However, the "second R," referring to sexual and reproductive rights, is often neglected.

Experiences of stigma among women living with HIV attending sexual and reproductive health services in Kenya: a qualitative study.

Background: Researchers have widely documented the pervasiveness of HIV stigma and discrimination, and its impact on people living with HIV. Only a few studies, however, have analysed the perceptions of women living with HIV accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. This study explores the experiences of stigma of HIV-positive clients attending family planning and post-natal services and implications for service use and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence.

'The intention may not be cruel... but the impact may be': understanding legislators' motives and wider public attitudes to a draft HIV Bill in Malawi.

Objectives: The law in relation to HIV has prominence in the formation and regulation of moral norms-in regard to human rights, and in regard to criminalisation, the policing of sexuality and intimate behaviours, and the production of stigma. The research focuses on the potential and impotence of the law to govern for, and enable, the human right to health in the context of HIV in Malawi.

Methods: This one-country qualitative case study (Malawi) action research involved data collection during a 6-month period (October 2010-March 2011).

Optimising the cost and delivery of HIV counselling and testing services in Kenya and Swaziland.

Background: Approaches to HIV counselling and testing (HCT) within low-resource high HIV prevalence settings have shifted over the years from primarily client-initiated approaches to provider initiated. As part of an ongoing programme science research agenda, we examine the relative costs of provider-initiated testing and counselling (PITC) services compared with voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services in the same health facilities in two low-resource settings: Kenya and Swaziland.

Methods: Annual financial and economic costs and output measures were collected retrospectively from 28 health facilities.

Measuring for change: a new research initiative by and for people living with HIV.

Several organizations have banded together to create the People Living with HIV Stigma Index. In this article, which is based on a presentation at a concurrent session at the conference, Lucy Stackpool-Moore and Anandi Yuvaraj describe the purpose of the index and how it was developed. The authors believe that the index provides a real opportunity to measure, understand and advocate effectively to improve policies and programs and to make a real difference in the lives of people living with HIV.