T08-O-13 Psychological approaches and integrative model for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)

Abstract

Global success in combating HIV/AIDS must be measure by its impact on developing countries in Africa and outside Europe and America where knowledge about prevention, care and treatment of PLWHA is rather restricted to the few literate individuals. The global burden of the AIDS pandemic is on Africa (about 73% of infected PLWHA are Africans, out of which, 67% are young women and 33% are young men). In Africa, the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS are deeply embedded in cultural and social beliefs and practices, many of them intimates, personal and private. AIDS is also often linked with immorality and this accounts for the high incidences of stigmatization and discrimination of PLWHA and person affected by AIDS (PABA), thus resulting to the withdrawal from active social life of PLWHA. AIDS is not a moral issue but a public health problem which is now widely accepted (especially in developed countries) as a chronic illness like diabetes, asthma, arthritis, etc. Hence, apart from the integrated management systems adopted in assisting PLWHA to cope effectively with the disease, psychological approaches like cognitive reorientation programs, attitude change campaigns, psychosocial support and selfmanagement training can be employed to assist people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to re-integrate into the society. The integrative models must be backed with the necessary social, psychological, economic and political will to enhance its effectiveness.