HIV and AIDS

ICRW worked to forge partnerships among institutions with expertise in HIV/AIDS, agriculture, nutrition and gender in order to improve the food security of AIDS-affected households in Uganda. This brief outlines the two phases of the project.

To address HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and improve the quality of care in the healthcare setting in Vietnam, the Institute for Social and Development Studies (ISDS), ICRW and the Horizons Program conducted intervention research in four hospitals. The study team conceptualized two fundamental causes of HIV-related stigma: 1) fear of casual transmission; and, 2) negative values/social judgments and associations between HIV and certain behaviors and groups, such as sex workers and injecting drug users. This report is a synthesis of the research.

ICRW, along with a consortium of organizations, led the Parliamentarians for Women's Health project, which sought to assist select parliamentarians in East and southern Africa to more efficiently improve women's and girls' access to health services, particularly HIV and AIDS treatment, prevention, care and counseling.

Other publications in this series:
Parliamentarians for Women's Health, Project Paves the Way for Change
Networking Proves Vital Strategy to Improving Women's Health Care
Parliamentarians Use Local Assessments to Connect with Their Communities
Workshops Bolster Parliamentarians as Leaders on Women's Health

Seminal research by ICRW and in-country partners on HIV/AIDS stigma coupled with the development of tools to combat stigma and indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of stigma-reduction efforts represents significant progress in both filling information gaps on stigma and dispelling myths that stigma cannot be addressed or measured. This paper outlines both the significant findings from ICRW research as well as the tools and indicators used to measure stigma.

Violence contributes to HIV and AIDS vulnerability but little has been done to address this relationship at the policy level in India. ICRW and Oxfam GB sponsored a national level "Call to Action" consultation in 2007 to convene experts and explore the extent and scope of the problem, as well as identify concrete directions to address violence based on community-driven approaches that work.

Drug-related stigma remains high in Vietnam, where there is a growing problem of illegal drug use and addiction, with serious impacts on the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities. This problem is closely linked to HIV transmission, and exacerbated by the fear and stigma towards drug users, which helps fuel the HIV epidemic. This factsheet provides information on the linked problems of stigma toward drug users and HIV-related stigma.

Since 2002, the Institute for Social Development Studies, in collaboration with ICRW, has conducted research, practical interventions and policy advocacy to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination in Vietnam.

In Vietnamese

An analysis of the "care economy" and those who are responsible for providing care for family, friends and community members affected by HIV and AIDS. This paper offers recommendations to national governments for supporting caregivers and identifies areas for further research.

ICRW, in partnership with organizations in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia, led a study of HIV and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in these three countries. This project, conducted from April 2001 to September 2003, unraveled the complexities around stigma by investigating the causes, manifestations and consequences of HIV and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in sub-Saharan Africa. This synthesis report presents the principal findings from the research.

This literature review assesses the extent of sexual relations between adolescent girls and older male partners (cross-generational sex) in sub-Saharan Africa; the extent of transactional sex; and the behavioral dynamics of girls and men involved in these sexual relations. Over 45 quantitative and qualitative studies of cross-generational and transactional sexual relations were reviewed.

There is an urgent need to accelerate efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination of HIV/AIDS. This report seeks to describe best practice and distil the key lessons. It provides a useful tool for those working on HIV and AIDS to incorporate a strong focus on tackling stigma and discrimination in their work.