"Eating plastic," "winning the lotto," "joining the www"...descriptions of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

ABSTRACT

This report is based on qualitative data gathered through a series of focus group discussions with people living with HIV or AIDS and nurses in five African countries. Participants were asked which words or phrases people use to refer to the illness and to people living with the illness. A total of 261 respondents were involved in the 40 focus group discussions, and an analysis of the data identified 290 descriptions. The descriptions were classified into 7 categories, which were (from most to least common) attributional, neutral, death-related, physical feature-related, factual statements, lingering illness-related, and common illness-related. Whereas some terms were used in more than one country, others were unique to a specific country. The descriptions show many negative labels and beliefs, but also an awareness of the devastating effects of the illness on individuals.