estigma AIDS

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The silent itinerary of people with HIV told through oral history

Maria Rita de Cassia Barreto de Almeida 1
Liliana Maria Labronici 2

Este artigo é um recorte da dissertação de mestrado intitulada “A trajetória silenciosa de pessoas portadoras do HIV contada pela história oral” defendida em 18 de dezembro de 2004.
1
Pontifícia Universidade
Católica do Paraná. Rua
Imaculada Conceição 1155,
Prado Velho. 80215-901
Curitiba PR. [e-mail] 2
Departamento de
Enfermagem da UFPR.

Abstract The emergence of AIDS as a social and historical phenomenon has brought along with it specters held in social imagination, aggravating the concept of plague, generating strong feelings and prejudice, becoming a stigma. Such factors ultimately affect HIV bearers’ well being. Thus, this study aims to understand the dimension of the problem of HIV bearers who have not seeked treatment in the National Health System and the reasons which make this search so difficult. The adopted methodological approach was thematic oral accounts. Five HIV bearers collaborated in this study. By using content analysis, we observed that the study participants do not go to Health
Units near their homes fearing to be identified, especially since they know they will certainly meet people from their neighborhood at the health units who do not know about their HIV diagnosis. Because of this fear, they anticipate they will suffer discrimination and stigmatization – due to the disease‘s social significance – and so, to protect themselves, they choose a secrecy that keeps them from trusting anyone and from seeking health care, thus increasing their personal suffering and vulnerability to develop AIDS.
Key words Stigma, Health system, Nursing

Resumo O surgimento da AIDS como fenômeno social e histórico carregou consigo os espectros construídos no imaginário social, recrudescendo o conceito de peste, mobilizando sentimentos e preconceitos, tornando-se ela mesma um grande estigma.
Fatores que