title: HIV in (and out of) the clinic: biomedicine, traditional medicine and spiritual healing in Harare.
abstract: Contemporary lived experiences of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are shaped by clinical and cultural encounters with illness. In sub-Saharan countries such as Zimbabwe, HIV is treated in very different ways in various therapeutic contexts including by biomedical experts, traditional medicine and faith healers. The co-existence of such expertise raises important questions around the potencies and limits of medicalisation and alternative healing practices in promoting HIV recovery. First, in this study, drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with 60 people from poor urban areas in Harare, we explore the experiences of people living with and affected by HIV. Specifically, we sought to document, interrogate and reflect on their perceptions and experiences of biomedicine in relation to traditional medicine and spiritual healing. Their accounts indicate that traditional medicine and spiritual beliefs continue to significantly influence the way in which HIV is understood, and the forms of help and care people seek. Second, we observe the dramatic and overwhelmingly beneficial impact of Antiretroviral Therapy and conclude through Zimbabwean's own stories that limitations around delivery and wider structural inequalities impede its potential. Lastly, we explore some practical implications of the biomedical clinic (and alternative healing practices) being understood as sites of ideological and expert contestation. This paper aimed to add to our knowledge of the relationships between traditional medicine and spiritual healing in connection with biomedicine and how this may influence HIV treatment and prevention.
authors.affiliation: a PhD Sociology, is a tutor at the School of Humanities and Social Science , The University of Newcastle , Newcastle , Australia , *Email: stephen.obrien@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Broom
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D026443:Spiritual Therapies; D055815:Young Adult; D015030:Zimbabwe
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents
keywords: HIV/AIDS; VIH/SIDA; Zimbabwe; antiretroviral therapy; guérison traditionnelle; guérisseurs par la foi; qualitative sociology; sociologie qualitative; spiritual healing; thérapie antirétroviale; traditional medicine