title: 'We call it a virus but I want to say it's the devil inside': redemption, moral reform and relationships with God among people living with HIV in Papua New Guinea.
abstract: There is growing recognition of the importance of religion and religious beliefs as they relate to the experience of HIV, globally and in Papua New Guinea in particular. Based on 36 in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with people living with HIV receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy in 2008, this paper examines the cultural aetiology of HIV of in Papua New Guinea, the country with the highest reported burden of HIV in the Pacific. Narratives provided drew upon a largely moral framework, which viewed HIV acquisition as a consequence of moral failing and living an un-Christian life. This explanation for suffering viewed the individual as responsible for their condition in much the same way that neo-liberal biomedical discourses do. Moral reform and re-establishing a relationship with God were seen as key actions necessary to effect healing on the material body infected with HIV. Religious understandings of HIV drew upon a pre-existing cultural aetiology of dis-ease and misfortune widespread in Papua New Guinea. Understanding the centrality of Christianity to explanations of disease, and subsequently the actions necessary to bring about health, is essential in order to understand how people with HIV in receipt of antiretroviral therapies internalise biomedical perspectives and reconcile these with Christian beliefs.
authors.affiliation: International HIV Research Group, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia; Sexual & Reproductive Health Unit, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka EHP 441, Papua New Guinea. Electronic address: a.kelly@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kelly-Hanku
authors.affiliation: Centre for Social Health Research, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aggleton
authors.affiliation: International HIV Research Group, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Patti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shih
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002835:Christianity; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D010219:Papua New Guinea / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Aetiology; Christianity; HIV; Papua New Guinea; Religion