TB- and HIV-Associated Stigma

Dear Colleagues,

HIV- and TB-associated stigma are often substantial burdens for those affected, and negatively influence care outcomes. Stigma is experienced across three domains—anticipated, enacted, and internal—that may manifest together or independently and in different forms throughout a person’s journey with HIV/TB. Despite decades of advocacy, public health messaging, and widespread availability of antiretroviral therapy, HIV-related stigma remains unacceptably high, especially among the highest-risk groups. Anti-TB stigma efforts are comparatively poor, and recent data show persistently high TB stigma in high-burden settings, with TB also considered a marker for HIV positivity. Thus, people with HIV and TB experience “a unique and overlapping double stigma”. Higher overlapping HIV/TB stigma is also found among key and vulnerable populations, specifically people aged 15-24 years old, people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities, and sex workers.

This Special Issue seeks original quantitative or qualitative research articles and systemic review articles on the following subjects:

• The impact of stigma on TB and TB/HIV outcomes.
• Intervention studies reporting the impact of TB and TB/HIV stigma across the continuum of care
• Intervention studies reporting the impact of TB and TB/HIV stigma across different age categories, including adults, adolescents, and young adults and children.
• Cohort approaches to measuring stigma over time.
• Measuring/describing experiences of stigma among healthcare workers and stigmatizing behavior in healthcare facilities.
• Measuring/describing experiences of stigma among vulnerable populations, communities, and in the workplace.

Dr. Denise H. Evans
Dr. Dorina Onoya
Dr. Graeme Hoddinott
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Tuberculosis
• HIV
• stigma
• vulnerable populations