A study of descriptive data for orphans and non-orphans on key criteria of economic vulnerability in two municipalities in South Africa.

Background: It is generally assumed that orphan status increases the risk to children of a range of negative outcomes. In South Africa, death of parents due to HIV-related illness is contributing to a rapid increase in the prevalence of orphans. This paper presents descriptive data from two South African communities, namely Kopanong, in the Free State and Kanana in the North West province, characterising the differences between orphans (double, maternal and paternal) and non-orphans on key criteria of social vulnerability.

Can women 'refuse' condoms? Dilemmas of condom negotiation among men living with HIV in South Africa.

This paper describes challenges that men living with HIV experience in negotiating condom use with sexual partners. After testing HIV-positive, the men in this study attended support groups of people living with HIV. Here they were taught to behave 'responsibly' by adopting safer sex measures.

Narratives of HIV disclosure and masculinity in a South African village.

This paper describes men's experiences of disclosing their HIV status, arguing that disclosure restored their social respect, which was previously undermined by an illness from AIDS. Results are from a 14-month ethnographic study conducted in rural South African health facility, among a group of 25 men attending an AIDS support group. The men included in this study tested while they were critically ill and some were negatively labelled as 'already dead' because of their poor state of health.

Negotiating therapeutic citizenship and notions of masculinity in a South African village.

The article explores the idea of therapeutic citizenship in relation to the experiences of men who attend support groups for people living with HIV or AIDS (PLHIV). At a rural South African health facility offering free antiretroviral (ARV) medicines, support groups aim to empower HIV-positive clients through knowledge and skills that enable them to adhere to their ARV regimen. Members are exhorted to abandon their 'traditional' health and gender beliefs in favour of a biomedical understanding and approach to health; to embrace participation in a support group for PLHIV; and to actively challenge HIV stigma through the public disclosure of their HIV-test result.

Barriers to accessing PMTCT services in a rural area of South Africa.

Despite good intentions and commitment from providers, prevention-of-mother-to-child-transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services can be difficult for pregnant women to access, despite the provision of free health services for women and children. We examined the introduction of PMTCT services in a very poor rural area of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, to assess the context's impact on the provision of this service. Our approach involved 13 individual in-depth interviews and 26 focus group discussions, spread over six clinics in a single district, supplemented by situational observations.

Risk factors for HIV-AIDS among youth in Cape Town, South Africa.

South Africa is in the midst of a devastating HIV-AIDS epidemic and most new HIV infections occur among young adults and adolescents. The current study examined risk behaviors and HIV risk factors among young people living in a Black South African township. Using community-based outreach methods of street intercept and facility-based surveying, 113 men and 115 women age 25 and younger responded to an anonymous survey.