Exploring the syndemic interaction between social, environmental and structural contexts of HIV infection in peri-mining areas in South Africa: a qualitative study.
BMJ Open
; 14(3): e076198, 2024 Mar 23.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38521520
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To explore the syndemic interaction between social, environmental, and structural contexts and HIV infection in peri-mining areas in South Africa.DESIGN:
Mixed qualitative methods consisting of in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) exploring the interaction between HIV infection and the social, environmental and structural factors affecting people living in the peri-mining areas of South Africa. Themes were analysed following the syndemic theoretical framework.SETTING:
Participants were recruited from three mining companies and locations in the peri-mining communities surrounding the mining companies in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape provinces.PARTICIPANTS:
Inclusion criteria included mineworkers, healthcare workers, female sex workers (FSWs), injection drug users (IDUs), and other community members, ≥18 years, living in the peri-mining area at the time of participation. Three FGDs were conducted (n=30) 13 men and 17 women aged 18-55 years. IDIs were conducted with 45participants:
mineworkers (n=10), healthcare workers (n=11), FSWs (n=15), truck drivers (n=4) and IDUs (n=5).RESULTS:
The findings from this study indicate that a syndemic of four socio-behavioural factors is associated with HIV acquisition in peri-mining areas. These are migrancy, accessibility to alcohol and substance use, commercial and transactional sex, and uptake of HIV prevention services.CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings have implications for HIV prevention programmes in mining companies, which rely on male condom usage promotion. More emphasis on better education about HIV prevalence, transmission and up-to-date prevention alternatives, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis for mineworkers is recommended. Furthermore, collaboration with community-based organisations is recommended to wholly address the syndemic factors influencing HIV transmission in peri-mining communities.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
HIV Infections
/
Sex Workers
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
En
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: