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HIV Support Groups and the Chronicities of Everyday Life in eSwatini.

Eva Vernooij
Published in: Medical anthropology (2022)
Drawing on ethnographic research, I examine the evolution of HIV support groups and biosociality during the "treat-all era" in eSwatini. I show how support groups are shaped by local actors to cater to a need for social solidarity that transcends diagnostic status, and thereby move beyond donors' HIV-centric rationales to use the groups for HIV treatment scale-up. In this particular phase of the HIV epidemic, I suggest, support groups make up a particular kind of biosociality, which is shaped by shared experiences of structural vulnerability to chronic illness, and a desire to be prepared for future diseases and other misfortune.
Keyphrases
  • antiretroviral therapy
  • hiv positive
  • hiv infected
  • hiv testing
  • human immunodeficiency virus
  • hepatitis c virus
  • hiv aids
  • men who have sex with men
  • healthcare
  • mental health