HIV Stigma and Healthcare Interventions
Summary
HIV-related stigma remains a pervasive barrier to testing, treatment uptake and retention in care worldwide. It operates at multiple levels: individual (internalised shame), interpersonal (discriminatory interactions) and structural (institutional policies and societal norms). In healthcare settings, stigma can manifest as refusal to treat, excessive precautions, breaches of confidentiality and hostile attitudes. These responses undermine trust, discourage disclosure of serostatus and impede adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Interventions have evolved from primarily education-based approaches targeting individual knowledge and attitudes to multi-level strategies that also address community norms and institutional frameworks. Effective programmes combine skills-building and contact with people living with HIV, supported by policy reform, legal protections and routine measurement of stigma indicators. Embedding stigma reduction within broader quality-of-care initiatives has demonstrated benefits for both patients and healthcare workers, improving service uptake, reducing burnout and strengthening the overall health system.
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HIV Stigma and Healthcare Interventions publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in hiv stigma and healthcare interventions across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Enacted stigma: Discriminatory actions or behaviours directed at people living with HIV by individuals or institutions.
Internalised stigma: Adoption of negative beliefs and feelings about oneself based on HIV-serostatus.
Structural stigma: Organisational or policy-level barriers that institutionalise discrimination against people with HIV.
Antiretroviral therapy (ART): Combination drug regimens that suppress HIV replication and improve immune function.
Universal precautions: Standard infection-control measures employed in healthcare to prevent transmission of bloodborne pathogens.
References
- Prevalence and risk of burnout among HIV service providers in South Africa and Zambia: findings from the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial. Human Resources for Health (2024).
- Prevalence, correlates and solutions to people with HIV in China being refused treatment for diseases not related to HIV: a mixed‐methods study. Journal of the International AIDS Society (2025).
- Attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS through the EAPVVS-E: A descriptive analysis in nursing students. Nurse Education Today (2024).
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