Challenges faced by people living with HIV and AIDS in Kosovo: qualitative analyses

The aim of the paper is to investigate challenges faced by people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) in Kosovo. The main goal is to analyze some psycho-social aspects of people living with HIV and AIDS such as: disclosure of HIV status, HIV related stigma, adherence, socioeconomic issues, etc. Qualitative methods were used to examine the experiences of PLWHA. Six focus group discussions were conducted with 49 HIV-positive participants and 10 key informants involved in working with PLWHA were interviewed. AIDS-related stigma was perceived as pervasive by the participants. This was associated with the difficulty of disclosure of PLWHA status due to the fear of rejection by family members or community. Also, prominent was the fact that PLWHA considered that their HIV and AIDS status is seen as secondary comparing to the daily life stressors such as poverty, unemployment and other problems with constant provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART)