A qualitative exploration into the presence of TB stigmatization across three districts in South Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) stigma is a barrier to active case finding and delivery of care in fighting the TB epidemic. As part of a project exploring different models for delivery of TB contact tracing, we conducted a qualitative analysis to explore the presence of TB stigma within communities across South Africa.

Methods

We conducted 43 in-depth interviews with 31 people with TB and 12 household contacts as well as five focus group discussions with 40 ward-based team members and 11 community stakeholders across three South African districts.

Results

TB stigma is driven and facilitated by fear of disease coupled with an understanding of TB/HIV duality and manifests as anticipated and internalized stigma. Individuals are marked with TB stigma verbally through gossip

SUBMITTER: DeSanto D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10017062 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature