Socio-cultural construct of HIV in Namibia

Namibia has an estimated 22% HIV prevalence rate and 13% of the approximately 2 million Namibians are living with AIDS. HIV/AIDS prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa raised many questions as to the underlying factors that contribute to the transmission of HIV. Studies have examined socio-cultural factors in several countries in southern Africa, but very few have investigated these factors in the Namibian context.; A qualitative study was undertaken to understand and describe the socio-cultural construct of HIV in Namibia from the perspective of African adults in urban areas. Grounded theory was used to generate themes of the construct of HIV disease from the perspectives of urban Namibians. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted in an urban, workplace setting with 22 men and women of African descent. Three main themes emerged from the data that were interconnected through a complex and pluralistic etiology of HIV based on the biomedical model and socio-cultural descriptions of disease. Participants' expressions of how HIV was defined, prevented and stigmatized revealed an explanation of HIV with little reference to indigenous or traditional beliefs about disease. The study findings support the need for a multidimensional approach to addressing stigma on personal, interpersonal, community, and governmental levels. Further research on HIV and stigma is needed to investigate how these factors contributing to HIV infections in Namibia.