title: Problems of providing services to people affected by HIV/AIDS: service providers and recipients perspectives.
abstract: This qualitative study aimed to identify the health-care problems of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in 2 large cities: Tehran and Kermanshah. Two main groups of stakeholders - service providers (policy-makers, managers, physicians and counsellors) and service recipients (PLHIV and their relatives) - participated in focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. We identified 24 themes covering the major health problems of PLHIV, including: incomplete and inadequate coverage of health-care services; patients' substance abuse; patients' fear of stigma; occupational burnout of certain service providers; patients' dissatisfaction with some of the services provided by counselling centres/clinics; medical staff's failure to observe confidentiality; and patients' lack of access to required specialized services. The problems and needs identified can inform the design and implementation of health programmes in our country and elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
authors.affiliation: Kurdistan Research Centre for Social Determinants of Health, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moradi
authors.affiliation: Iranian Research Centre for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviours, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohraz
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Centre for Communicable Diseases Control, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gouya
authors.affiliation: Social Determinants of Health Research Centre, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dejman
authors.affiliation: Iranian Research Centre for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviours, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Alinaghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rahmani
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. malek179@gmail.com.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Malekafzali-Ardakani
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001364:Awareness; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006266:Health Education; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007492:Iran; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D057545:Social Stigma; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology