Social factors affecting HIV protective behaviour among male Pakistani migrants residing in Greater Johannesburg and surrounding areas.

Abstract

Knowledge of HIV has for the most part not halted its advance, yet HIV prevention interventions still overwhelmingly rely on increasing people‟s levels of HIV knowledge with the expectation that they will act rationally and in accordance with their knowledge to protect themselves from HIV. The current study contends that social factors intercede in the translation of HIV knowledge into health behaviour change. Even though people may have HIV knowledge, social factors such as gender, culture, religion and stigma, to name a few, may constrain individuals‟ ability to engage in HIV protective behaviour. This study therefore aimed to investigate the social factors which affect HIV protective behaviour among male Pakistani Migrants residing in Johannesburg. The study was specifically concerned with exploring the impact of gender, culture, religion, migration and xenophobia on the HIV protective behaviour of Male Pakistani migrants. This study also examined the current level of HIV knowledge and perception of HIV risk among male Pakistani migrants. Qualitative thematic content analysis was used to analyze the transcribed responses, of nine male Pakistani migrants, to open-ended questions relating to the study‟s research questions. Three thematic categories emerged: HIV knowledge; Perception of HIV risk; and Social factors and HIV protection. Analysis suggested that while participants‟ do have an awareness of HIV, HIV knowledge is rudimentary and inadequate. It is also concluded that participants‟ low perception of HIV risk, based on social factors such as stigma; religion and culture, place them in a vulnerable position with regards to HIV. This study provides some important suggestions for HIV education programme design II suited to the Pakistani migrant community. It also highlights interesting variables and potential hypotheses for future research.