Recombinant HIV-1 Vif protein (89.6)

HIV stigma is a persistent barrier to curbing the spread of HIV and improving quality of life for people living with HIV. We developed and pilot tested Maisha, an HIV stigma reduction intervention in antenatal care (ANC) with two objectives: 1) among individuals living with HIV, reduce internalized and anticipated HIV stigma, with subsequent improvements in HIV care engagement, and 2) among individuals who are HIV-seronegative, reduce HIV stigmatizing attitudes. We enrolled and baselined 1039 women and 492 male partners presenting to a first ANC appointment and randomized them to standard of care or the Maisha intervention. All women living with HIV (WLHIV) and a subset of HIV-negative participants completed a 3-month follow-up assessment. Participation in the three Maisha sessions was high (99.6%, 92.8%, 89.3%), and nearly all participants noted satisfaction with the intervention content (99.8%) and counselor (99.8%). Among 55 WLHIV, care engagement outcomes did not differ by condition. Among 293 HIV-negative participants, Maisha participants had significantly greater reductions in the moral judgment sub-scale of the stigma attitudes measure (p < .001), but not the social distancing subscale. The ANC setting, where women and their partners are routinely tested for HIV, is an ideal venue for addressing HIV stigma. The Maisha intervention was feasible and acceptable, and had an impact on HIV stigma attitudes. A full trial is needed to examine impacts on HIV outcomes; modifications to the intervention should be considered to reduce social alienation of PLWH.

Objective To determine the prevalence, risk factors and impact of non-disclosure of HIV serostatus to sexual partners among HIV-positive patients at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok. Methods We conducted a prospective observational study to enrol HIV-positive adults with one or more regular sexual partners during the past 3 months. We obtained personal information via anonymous questionnaire and clinical data of those receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) for >= 12 months via chart-review. Results A total of 328 HIV-positive participants were enrolled. Approximately half were female and in the symptomatic HIV stage at diagnosis, with an average age 44.08 +/- 8.59 years. Approximately one-third of participants (35.7%) reported that they had not disclosed their HIV serostatus to their sexual partners. The non-disclosure group had a higher rate of poor ART adherence owing to fear of revealing their HIV serostatus to their partner (12.0% vs. 1.9%; P < 0.001), as compared with the disclosure group. Rates of immunological and virological failure did not differ between groups. Multivariate analysis [adjusted odds ratio (OR); 95% confidence interval (CI); P-value] revealed having an occupation as a teacher (4.08; 1.40-16.61; P = 0.01) and reporting acquisition of HIV infection through blood transfusion (4.08; 1.31-12.68; P = 0.02) were independent risk factors. Furthermore, a longer duration of the sexual relationship (0.997; 0.994-0.999; P = 0.02), having a seropositive sexual partner (0.57; 0.33-0.99; P = 0.04), living in their partner's house (0.53; 0.31-0.90; P = 0.02) and having a higher mean Pictorial Thai Self-Esteem Scale (PTSS) score (0.62; 0.38-0.99; P = 0.05) were identified as independent protective factors. Conclusions We found a high prevalence of HIV serostatus non-disclosure, which was associated with poorer ART adherence. Appropriately focusing interventions on high-risk populations with aforementioned risk factors is important for improved HIV care.