Book Review…Study reveals alarming facts on AIDS

Jan 11, 2015 Book Review…, Features / Columnists

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Book: HIV&AIDS: Knowledge and Stigma in Guyana

Author: Prem Misir

Reviewer: Dr Glenville Ashby

 

A 2011 report by AVERT (Averting HIV and AIDS) painted a sobering picture of the impact of the sexually transmitted disease in the Caribbean, that included Guyana. The following is an excerpt of that finding:

“…1) An estimated 230,000 people were living with HIV in the Caribbean. Some 13,000 people were newly infected during 2011, and 10,000 people died from AIDS. In the Bahamas more than 3% of the adult population is living with HIV. 2) This level of HIV prevalence is found only in sub-Saharan Africa, making the Caribbean the second most affected region in the world. 3) Half of adults living with the virus are women. 4) Overall, the main route of HIV transmission in the Caribbean is heterosexual sex, with many new infections linked with commercial sex work. 5) Sex between men is recently emerging as another major route of transmission in Caribbean countries. Cultural and behavioural patterns (such as early initiation of sexual acts, and taboos related to sex and sexuality), gender inequalities, lack of confidentiality, stigmatisation and economic need are some of the factors influencing vulnerability to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean.”

Two years after this report, Dr. Prem Misir, Pro-Chancellor, University of Guyana, added to this discourse with the exhaustively researched, ‘HIV&AIDS: Knowledge and Stigma in Guyana.’
This treatise, though littered with some cross-cultural comparisons, is a biopsy of the Guyanese psyche vis-à-vis AIDS, HIV and PLHIV (Persons living with HIV), and is by far the most empirical and comprehensive study of its kind in the region. It’s instructive, pedagogical, and offers much needed clinical information to better address an epidemiological issue that bears definitive socio-psychological implications. Dr. Misir’s rigorous exercise will find a ready audience in academic circles and policy makers at the highest level of government.

The survey used data collected from questionnaires that elicited closed-ended answers from 379 religiously and ethnically (racially) diverse high school students, of both sexes between the ages 13 and 18 who resided in rural and urban areas. These variables prove insightful and speak volumes of the determinant role of culture in societies.

Here, some facts standout, for example, 94.2% of the students felt that if they were HIV-positive, people would assign them derogatory names and gossip about them; 59.4% of the students believed that HIV and AIDS is a death sentence; and 51.2% endorsed the view that the disease is some form of punishment. Also, Hindu students are more likely to accept misconceptions and myths surrounding the disease. Interestingly, “this uneasiness came from not only from Hindus, but also from other faith-based quarters: the Open Bible, Unity of Women, Seventh Day Adventist and Jamaat al Muslimeen. Results also indicated that “more Muslim and Other (non-Christian and non-Hindu) students than students from other religious groups have correct knowledge of the symptoms of HIV and AIDS; and that more Indian students than students from other ethnic groups have correct knowledge of the symptoms of HIV and AIDS.” 

More importantly, though, is the compelling evidence that heterosexual intercourse is the main medium of transmission, and “it accounts for more than 90% of seropositive cases.”

Data analysis was facilitated by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and permission was sought from the Ministry of Education to conduct this ambitious study.

The use of this population is telling. It is highly likely that stigmatisation, perceptions and profiling are nurtured, perpetuated and are driven by miseducation throughout adolescence. It follows that Dr Misir would immediately outline the principal element that engineered his work. “This book,” he states, “arose out of my concerns over the likelihood of an increasing trend in high-risk sexual behaviours among adolescents in Guyana. These concerns relate to the perception that many adults …were graduating from HIV to an AIDS status in their twenties. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that many people with HIV in Guyana and elsewhere contracted the infection in their adolescents…”

The findings of the seminal study predictably validate Dr Misir’s hypothesis, “that limited HIV and AIDS knowledge resulting in risk behaviours and stigmatisation of PLHIV has posed formidable difficulties for young people to protect themselves from the disease.”

Further to his detailed analysis, he adds, “Undoubtedly, limited understanding of the myths and misconceptions of HIV and AIDS indicates that prevention education and awareness policy must focus more than ever on how HIV is not transmitted. Those who stigmatise PLHIV perceive them as shamefully different, and generally dole out a label, not only in behaviour, but also to the person. The label becomes a stigma, a mark of social disgrace and separates PLHIV from those who see themselves as normal. Thus, myths and misconceptions drive stigmatising behaviours toward HIV, AIDS and PLHIV.”

How governmental, social, educational and religious institutions respond to these findings is the key to protecting Guyanese citizenry from misinformation that makes it more difficult to combat a disease that is still a clear and present danger.

 

Feedback: [email protected] or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby

HIV&AIDS: Knowledge and Stigma in Guyana by Prem Misir

Publisher: UWI Press, Mona, Jamaica

ISBN: 978-976-640-317-1

Available:

Ratings: Recommended

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