Abstract
Globally, the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to have an enormous impact on affected societies. Despite several health promotion interventions being carried out, HIV/AIDS remains a major cause of deaths in low and middle income countries. At the workplace, the pandemic has brought about reduction in productivity, increased staff turnover, increased production costs, high levels of stigma, etc. HIV stigma is one of the main reasons why the pandemic has continued to devastate a number of societies around the world. HIV stigma presents barriers to HIV prevention in different settings including the workplace. Unlike large enterprises, small-scale enterprises have received less attention in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This study’s purpose was to explore how employers and employees can overcome challenges of HIV-related stigma at the workplace. This study employed a qualitative case study design. Data were collected from eighteen participants in three small-scale enterprises in Kabale. Findings indicate that small-scale enterprises are faced with the fear of HIV testing, status disclosure, staff turnover, suicidal thoughts, gossip, etc. Implementing operative national HIV workplace policies may enable small-scale enterprises to overcome challenges of HIV-related stigma at the workplace.
Highlights
The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to impact most affected societies
UNAIDS global data from 2017 estimated 36.9 million people to be living with HIV/AIDS [1]. e same report revealed that 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2017
In relation to the above challenges, this study indicated that employees and employers in small-scale enterprises are willing to support each other in an effort to curb down fears related to HIV testing at the workplace
Summary
The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to impact most affected societies. UNAIDS global data from 2017 estimated 36.9 million people to be living with HIV/AIDS [1]. e same report revealed that 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2017. UNAIDS global data from 2017 estimated 36.9 million people to be living with HIV/AIDS [1]. E workplace is where workers congregate and spend a major portion of their waking hours, a situation that makes it suitable for health promotion programs [9]. It offers an ideal setting and infrastructure to support the promotion of health to a large audience [8, 9]. HIV-related stigma and discrimination continue to undermine the efficiency of national efforts to prevent and control the pandemic, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa [18, 19]
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