Barcelona 2013
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| Abstract #67 - E-Posters English | ||||
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Session: 50.60: E-Posters English (Poster) on Sunday in Chaired by Authors: Presenting Author: Mr. Steffen Taubert - Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe, Germany |
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| Additional Authors: Dr. Jordi Casabona, Sra Cristina Sanclemente, Dra. Anna Esteve, Dra. Victoria Gonzalez, Grupo HIVITS TS, | ||||
| Aim: In 2011/2012, the ,positive stimmen` [positive voices] project (PLHIV Stigma Index) documented in 1148 interviews cases of HIV-related stigmatisation and discrimination experienced in Germany. According to this, one in five persons has been denied a healthcare service because of HIV infection at least once during the last 12 months. 10% of them did not seek medical care although it would have been necessary. 20% disclosure against their will as being HIV-positive by a healthcare worker. Discrimination can have serious consequences. Experiences of discrimination can be traumatising and can lead to an overall lack of confidence in the medical system. We wanted to find out more about discrimination in the healthcare sector and in which settings discriminiation and stigmatisation occurs. | ||||
| Method / Issue: In order to examine discrimination in the healthcare sector in more depth, we asked employees from 20 metropolitan and six provincial AIDS service organisations about any cases of discrimination within the scope of a structured interview conducted in October/November 2012. We additionally conducted an online search. We documented a total of 76 detailed cases. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Most cases of discrimination were reported in connection with visits to dentists (39.5%) and hospital stays (31.5%). Further cases were reported from general medical, gynaecological, neurological and orthopaedic practices and from other medical disciplines. Manifestations of discrimination ranged from depreciatory remarks to appointments in the evening (in particular in dental practices) as well as violations of data privacy (disclosure of the HIV diagnosis to third parties), spontaneous changes in the treatment plan up to full denial of treatment. We noticed regional variations in the frequency of discrimination cases reported. The respondents assume that discrimination drops at locations where AIDS service organisations are able to refer affected persons to HIV-friendly medical practices. Moreover, awareness and communication about discrimination also seem to vary from region to region. | ||||
| Discussion: Despite medical advances in HIV treatment, discrimination still occurs. Medical staff makes no exception. During the last few years, Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe (DAH, German AIDS Service Organisation)has developed its further training project ´HIV/STI prevention in medical practices` for physicians and skilled medical staff. In addition to clarifying the question of how HIV and STI counselling can implemented, the workshops also deal with concerns about contracting these diseases and prejudice. Besides events at congresses and in existing quality circles, Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe also organised further training for university lecturers at the Berlin Charité-university hospital (department of general medicine) in 2012. This helps to raise students? awareness of the issue of dealing with HIV already during education. In the future, the project is intended to focus more strongly on those groups of physicians where most cases of discrimination were reported. Advocacy efforts take place in cooperation with a community group established in 2012, dealing with discrimination in the healthcare sector. Regarding the problems in dental practices, DAH and the Bundesärztekammer (Federal Association of Dentists) are planning to improve further education of dentists and dental assistants through further training and articles in specialists? media. | ||||
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