An Examination of HIV and AIDS Campaign in South Africa towards Eliminating Stigmatisation

Abstract

The fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic in South Africa has proved difficult because of the state of stigmatisation that the pandemic has ushered in. The objective of this paper is to discuss the undesirable effects of stigmatisation and possible measures to address the phenomenon in South Africa. The paper has used extensive review of literature to generate debates and discourses on stigmatisation. Findings indicate that stigmatisation is still pervasive and prevalent due to: communities being subjected to different and conflicting truths on HIV and AIDS from both traditional and the bio-medical practitioners; poor policy and campaign conceptualization at nascent stages of the campaign making the disease looks mysterious and fearful; and inadequate community education on stigma and stigmatisation. The paper recommends: increased political goodwill; massive community mobilization and sensitization campaigns especially on stigma and stigmatisation; benchmarking the campaign strategies with other model countries that have tackled stigma; and taking advantage of South Africa's idol personalities in the campaign who have overcome stigmatisation