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Home > AIDS and Culture - Updated: 01-10-2004 4:38 pm
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Culture and HIV/AIDS
There are many different ways of contracting HIV/AIDS.
There are just as many different ways of preventing HIV/AIDS.
There are many different groups of people exposed to HIV/AIDS.
There are many different ways of discriminating against people living with HIV/AIDS.
The WHYs, HOWs and WHOs change from CULTURE to CULTURE.
That is why we need :
A CULTURALLY-APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO HIV/AIDS PREVENTION AND CARE.
In terms of HIV/AIDS prevention and care, adopting a cultural approach means that any given population´s cultural references and resources (ways of life, value systems, traditions, beliefs, religions and fundamental human rights) will be considered as key references when designing, implementing and monitoring prevention and care strategies, programmes and projects.
This is an essential component in achieving in-depth and sustainable changes in people´s behaviour, and to give full coherence to preventive education, medical treatment, care and support of infected and affected people.
This is why the joint UNESCO/UNAIDS research project A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care was launched in May 1998, with the aim of stimulating reflection and action for better application of "a cultural approach" in strategies, policies, projects and fieldwork. This strategy engages populations in the fight against HIV/AIDS on the basis of their own cultural references and resources. News
| HIP HOP and HIV/AIDS - ()
14-11-2003 1:00 pm On the 12-14 November 2004, a Hip Hop World Summit will be held at UNESCO Headquarters. A Round Table and a Workshop on the use of Hip Hop in HIV/AIDS prevention and sensitisation will be organized in the framework of the joint UNESCO/UNAIDS project “A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care”. More |
Projects
| EMPOWERMENT OF YOUTH LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS |
| Cambodia is the country most affected by HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, with 2.8% of the adult population HIV-infected, mainly through unprotected (heterosexual) sexual intercourse. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission has become a major concern in the fight against AIDS. Although some analysts believe HIV/AIDS has been declining since 2001, the epidemic can still pose a major threat to Cambodia's development: talking about sex is still taboo, and many people continue to have high-risk sexual encounters. >> More
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| Indian Pilot Project |
| India is characterised by a rich cultural diversity at the level of the Union as well as in its various regions, states, large cities and linguistic, spiritual and religious communities. >> More
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| Life Forces and Life Choices: ‡Khomani San Action Research on HIV/AIDS 2003 |
| Life Forces and Life Choices is based on a six-month action research project, conducted by the South African San Institute and commissioned by UNESCO within the framework of the joint UNESCO/UNAIDS ‘A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care’ project. It details the experiences and findings of a team of ‡Khomani San health educators facing health care and survival challenges in the southern Kalahari. >> More
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| Theater and HIV/AIDS |
| Very popular among youth, theatre is often used as a tool of Information, Education and Communication on HIV/AIDS. >> More
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Conferences
Articles
| Culture, agriculture and rural development: a view from FAO's Population Programme Service - by Marcela Villarreal, Senior Officer (Socio-cultural research)
0June 2000 -The AIDS pandemic is not only a health problem. Among development agencies the pandemic is increasingly regarded as an important, crosscutting developmental issue that requires a multisectoral and multidisciplinary perspective to understand it and to intervene effectively. Cultural beliefs, practices and attitudes are determinants of the sexual behaviour that affect the nature and rate of HIV transmission.More |
| Kenyan widows fight wife inheritance - by Alice Muthengi
18 November, 2003 -A group of 29 Kenyan women - all of the HIV positive - have formed a club to fight the culture of wife inheritance, which they blame for the spread of HIV/AIDS in the area.More |
| Culturally Sensitive AIDS Educational Videos - by Herek, G.M., Gillis, J. R., Glunt, E. K., Lewis, J., Welton, D., & Capitanio, J. P.
1998 -The importance of using culturally sensitive educational materials in HIV-related interventions with ethnic minority groups is widely acknowledged.More |
| UNESCO's Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care - by UNESCO Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue
April 2004 -The following article on the joint UNESCO/UNAIDS project 'A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care' was written for the readers of the International Youth Hosteling Federation on-line newsletter(Issue No. 12, April 2004).More |
| Indigenous Knowledge and Health : Ghana and Zambia - by Maja Naur, Ph.D. in sociology, consultant to the World Bank.
March 2001 -Given the culturally defined central role of traditional healers in their communities, they provide one of the best hopes for stemming the spread of AIDS.More |
| A cultural approach to AIDS in Africa - by Jabulani Sithole
March 31, 2000 -As the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to cause havoc within southern Africa, voices are growing for a serious consideration of a cultural approach to the prevention of and awareness about HIV infection.More |
| Traditional Medicine and AIDS - by Gerard Bodeker, Donna Kabatesi, Rachel King, Jacques Homsy
Novembre 2000 -A regional task force on traditional medicine and AIDS in east and southern Africa will be (sic) inaugurated in Kampala, Uganda, in April 10,2000. The task force will coordinate activity related to the widespread use of traditional medicine by people with HIV/AIDS in Africa and the role of traditional medicine in HIV/AIDS prevention.More |
Events
| Round Table on "HIV/AIDS, Stigma and Discrimination : a cultural approach".
(UNESCO Paris; 29-11-2002 5:00 pm - 29-11-2003 7:00 pm )
The stigmatization and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS prevent a great many of the 42 million people living with HIV/AIDS around the world from seeking treatment for, and information about, the disease. Many are even afraid to take an HIV test because of the shame associated with the epidemic. More |
| HIP HOP and HIV/AIDS
(UNESCO Headquarters; 14-11-2004 1:00 pm - 14-11-2004 4:00 pm )
On the 12-14 November 2004, a Hip Hop World Summit will be held at UNESCO Headquarters. A Round Table and a Workshop on the use of Hip Hop in HIV/AIDS prevention and sensitisation will be organized in the framework of the joint UNESCO/UNAIDS project “A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care”. More |
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