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. 2015 Aug;105(8):1581-7.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302716. Epub 2015 Jun 11.

HIV Treatment Scale-Up and HIV-Related Stigma in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Longitudinal Cross-Country Analysis

Brian T Chan  1 , Alexander C Tsai  1 , Mark J Siedner  1
Affiliations

HIV Treatment Scale-Up and HIV-Related Stigma in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Longitudinal Cross-Country Analysis

Brian T Chan et al. Am J Public Health. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: We estimated the association between antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake and HIV-related stigma at the population level in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: We examined trends in HIV-related stigma and ART coverage in sub-Saharan Africa during 2003 to 2013 using longitudinal, population-based data on ART coverage from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS and on HIV-related stigma from the Demographic and Health Surveys and AIDS Indicator Surveys. We fitted 2 linear regression models with country fixed effects, with the percentage of men or women reporting HIV-related stigma as the dependent variable and the percentage of people living with HIV on ART as the explanatory variable.

Results: Eighteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa were included in our analysis. For each 1% increase in ART coverage, we observed a statistically significant decrease in the percentage of women (b = -0.226; P = .007; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.383, -0.070) and men (b = -0.281; P = .009; 95% CI = -0.480, -0.082) in the general population reporting HIV-related stigma.

Conclusions: An important benefit of ART scale-up may be the diminution of HIV-related stigma in the general population.

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Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Temporal trends in percentage of people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy and people reporting HIV-related stigma, by country: 2003–2013. Note. ART = antiretroviral therapy; PLHIV = people living with HIV.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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