Del Casino VJ, Fisher DG, Kochems LM; International Conference on AIDS (15th : 2004 : Bangkok, Thailand).
Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. WePeC6129.
California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, United States
Issues: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in targeting HIV prevention services to those people who are already positive. The assumption underlying this approach to HIV prevention is that HIV positive individuals, if educated and made aware of the risk of transmitting HIV, are best placed to reduce HIV transmission and prevent the epidemic from spreading further. The assumption, however, that HIV positive people have a greater responsibility to prevent the spread of HIV is highly problematic because it divides the risk between positive and negative individuals, closes off the conversation between these two identity groups, and places the preponderance of blame on HIV positive people. Description: In this paper, we offer a critique of the emerging model of HIV prevention that targets HIV positive individuals through a critique of the risk- and behavior-based model that underlies this particular discourse of outreach. We do so from the context of prevention program development for men who have sex with men. Recommendations: For prevention efforts to be effective, we have to move beyond the binary oppositions that drive a majority of the current models of prevention. Instead, we argue that for prevention to be effective, dialogues need to be opened up, not only among the closed sides of the binary positive/negative, but also across and between those who engage in practices that might put them at risk for transmitting or acquiring HIV. Furthermore, it is our recommendation that for prevention programs to effectively begin such a dialogue, that prevention theorists must engage in debates that have emerged from feminist and queer theory scholarship.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- AIDS Vaccines
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Behavior
- Communication
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Health Planning Guidelines
- Humans
- Interpersonal Relations
- Male
- Social Behavior
- prevention & control
Other ID:
UI: 102284048
From Meeting Abstracts