Comment on ‘Estimation and prediction of the HIV-AIDS-epidemic under conditions of HAART using mixtures of incubation time distributions’ by S. H. Heisterkamp, R. de Vries, H. G. Sprenger, G. A. A. Hubben, M. J. Postma,Statistics in Medicine, DOI: 10.1002/sim.2974

The AIDS epidemic continues and HIV-infected persons continue to suffer stigmatization and discrimination in Nigeria. The results of an open-ended questionnaire administered non-randomly in Ile-Ife and Ilesa in the late 1990s confirm this. Six questions on Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were asked; 83 (36.4%) males and 145 (63.6%) females aged between 11 and 60 years responded. The respondents included 101 students, 49 civil servants, 39 artisans and traders. Others included 29 health professionals (doctors and nurses, etc.), 8 teachers, and 2 commercial sex workers. The median of negative responses (rejection) is 42.2%. It is concluded that there still exists a significant but suppressed or subtle stigmatization and discrimination against HIV-infected people, a major constraint in the management and control of HIV/AIDS.

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Case Study: Memory Work with Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195339550.013.0011 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Philippe Denis

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Oral History ◽

Narrative Therapy ◽

Life Story ◽

Early Years ◽

Memory Work ◽

Aids Epidemic ◽

Story Work ◽

Oral History Interview ◽

Hiv Aids

This article focuses on working with children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Arica. In the early years of the AIDS epidemic, relief organizations focused their efforts on the material needs of children, but their psychological and emotional needs are no less important. Recognizing this, the Sinomlando Centre for Oral History and Memory Work in Africa, a research and community development center located at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Pietermaritzburg South Africa, has pioneered a model of psychosocial intervention for children in grief—particularly but not exclusively in the context of HIV/AIDS. This model uses the methodology of oral history in a novel manner, combined with other techniques such as life story work and narrative therapy. During the early years of the project, the model followed for the family visits was the oral history interview. A discussion on caregiver as the narrator and skills required in memory work especially in these cases concludes this article.

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