title: Pursuing treatment and moral worth: HIV-infected women in a northern province of Vietnam living with antiretroviral therapy.
abstract: There is a need to understand how social and cultural expectations of being a woman shape the challenges women face when trying to access antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to continue the treatment over time. Based on a 7-month prospective study of 15 HIV-infected women, the particular challenges met by these women in northern Vietnam are discussed in this article. We argued that, by taking ART to maintain their health and to fulfill their responsibilities to family and community, the women managed to reclaim the "moral worth" they had lost as a result of having HIV infection. At the same time, certain social and economic contingencies related to ART made it difficult for the women to uphold this moral position. The study demonstrated the importance of understanding the meanings and implications of ART in specific social contexts to understand how social support structures could be established to ensure treatment continuation.
authors.affiliation: Health Strategy and Policy Institute, Ministry of Health, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Nam Thi Thu
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Vibeke
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rasch
authors.forename: Ib Christian
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Bygbjerg
authors.forename: Hanne Overgaard
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Mogensen
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents