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Home » DHS-7 Questionnaire Review - Archived » HIV/AIDS » Remove 'AIDS Virus' Language
Remove 'AIDS Virus' Language [message #1688] Thu, 27 March 2014 16:42 Go to next message
alstangl is currently offline  alstangl
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Registered: March 2014
Location: Washington, DC
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ICRW, on behalf of the Global Stigma and Discrimination Indicator Working Group (GSDIWG), recommends the replacement of the 'AIDS virus' phrase with 'HIV' in all questions where it currently appears in the HIV module, including questions: 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 914, 915, 916, 921, 922, 924, 926 and 930.


Rationale for change: Technically, AIDS is not a virus, HIV is. Thus, using the terminology 'AIDS virus' is technically incorrect and could foster confusion and misunderstanding of the difference between HIV and AIDS, resulting in poor quality data. In addition, the term 'AIDS virus' is stigmatizing, as it infers that people living with HIV will all progress to AIDS. The 'AIDS virus' language can also foster stigma by directly linking HIV and AIDS in respondent's minds. Given the negative association of AIDS with a long, debilitating death, the term often inspires fear, which is a key driver of stigma towards people living with HIV. In 2011, UNAIDS recommended that HIV and AIDS not be linked directly and that the term most specific and appropriate to a given situation be used in its Terminology Guidelines (See: http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/document s/document/2011/20111009_UNAIDS_Terminology_Guidelines_Midte rmAdditions_en.pdf) . Moving forward, the outdated 'AIDS virus' terminology should be replaced with 'HIV'.


Anne Stangl
Senior Behavioral Scientist
International Center for Research on Women
Washington, DC
Re: Remove 'AIDS Virus' Language [message #1761 is a reply to message #1688] Wed, 02 April 2014 13:12 Go to previous messageGo to next message
UNAIDS_RAL is currently offline  UNAIDS_RAL
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In 2011, in its Terminology Guidelines, UNAIDS recommended that HIV and AIDS not be linked directly and that the term most specific and appropriate to a given situation be used (See: http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/document s/document/2011/20111009_UNAIDS_Terminology_Guidelines_Midte rmAdditions_en.pdf). The outdated 'AIDS virus' terminology should be replaced with 'HIV', to avoid confusion and misunderstanding of the difference between HIV and AIDS which may affect quality of data. The term 'AIDS virus' is stigmatizing, due to the negative association of AIDS with a long, debilitating death that inspires fear. Research has identified fear as a key driver of stigma towards people living with HIV.
Re: Remove 'AIDS Virus' Language [message #1790 is a reply to message #1688] Thu, 03 April 2014 07:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
james.hargreaves@lshtm.ac is currently offline  james.hargreaves@lshtm.ac
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I agree with the comments made by Anne Stangl on behalf of the Global Stigma and Discrimination Indicator Working Group (GSDIWG)

James Hargreaves, Director, Centre for Evaluation, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Re: Remove 'AIDS Virus' Language [message #1899 is a reply to message #1688] Mon, 07 April 2014 05:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
cwolf is currently offline  cwolf
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Registered: April 2014
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On behalf of the Key Populations team at USAID Office of HIV/AIDS, I would like to support the changes ICRW has requested to remove the dated, inaccurate AIDS virus language.

Cameron Wolf, PhD, MSc
Senior HIV/AIDS Advisor for Key Populations
USAID Office of HIV/AIDS
Re: Remove 'AIDS Virus' Language [message #1945 is a reply to message #1688] Thu, 10 April 2014 11:23 Go to previous message
lnyblade
Messages: 2
Registered: March 2014
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On behalf of the Health Policy Project, I am writing to support removal of the term "AIDS virus". While it may have been helpful a decade ago to use this term to ensure respondents understood the questions, it is no longer necessary. We also know from the past decade of research that equating HIV and AIDS only serves to further stigma.

Laura Nyblade
Senior Technical Advisor, Stigma and Discrimination
Health Policy Project and RTI
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