Social context vital to HIV education and research

Cultural nostalgia and stigmatisation are hindering efforts to address teh HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa, UCT's 5th Colloquim on HIV/AIDS recently heard.

Titled Narrative and Nostalgie in HIV Education and Research, the gathering focused on the human stories behind the virus. The aim was to encourage the universtiy to develop "a social context in which social identities may be negotiated in order to promote acceptance and tolerance", according to Cal Volks, Director of UCT's HIV/AIDS Institutional Co-ordination Unit (HAICU), which hosted the event.