Stigmatized Attitude of Healthcare Providers: A Barrier for Delivering Health Services to HIV Positive Patients

Background: Despite the success ofdeveloped countriesinpreventingthe spread of HIV/AIDS, the disease is expanding indevelopingcountries where an unfavorableattitude exists among people,healthprofessionals and employees.This studyaimed to assess the stigmatized attitudeamonghealth care providers toward people livingwith HIV(PLWHA). Methods:The study is a cross-sectional survey. The data were gathered using a structured questionnaire. The study sample included 575healthcare providers of public and privatehospitalsin Shiraz. The data were gathered using a structured questionnaire in spring 2014. Data analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21. Results: Themostdominantattitude of the health care providers toward HIV/AIDSpatients was related to fear (42.42%). According to the results of this study, there was a significantrelationship between stigmatized attitude of thehealthcare providersandtheir religiousbeliefs, society stigmatized attitude, and knowledge of transmission routes. The relationshipbetween social stigmatized attitude of health care providers andtheir knowledge of transmission routes, with theirwillingnesstoprovide services topatients is significant, as well (P < 0.05).39.6%and46.2%of the respondentspreferred not to provide services to the prostitutes andhomosexual patients. Conclusion:Fear of contamination and social stigmatized attitude are the mainimpediments todealing withpatientsandproviding services tothem. Hence, it seemsthat creating an effectiveknowledge about transmissionandcorrecting the socio-cultural beliefs of health providers are two key strategies to tackle this problem.