A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Understanding HIV/AIDS in the Ethiopian Community

The rate of HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C remains at epidemic levels and is most prevalent in the black community, with foreign-born blacks accounting for an increasing proportion of HIV infections in the Washington DC area. The Ethiopian community is among the subgroups that are especially impacted by HIV/AIDS. Yet, seldom does research on the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS break data into diverse subgroups, accounting for the distinct needs based on cultural or ethnic differences. This paper reports on the qualitative findings from a community participatory action research study that involved interviewing 60 Ethiopian-immigrants and nine community-based providers about their attitudes toward HIV/AIDS, and to elicit their ideas about how to improve HIV/AIDS prevention, promotion, and treatment approaches targeting the Ethiopian community. Findings show that stigma remains the largest barrier to accessing HIV/AIDS treatment among Ethiopians in the Washington, D.C. area. Therefore, strategies to reduce HIV/AIDS must address stigmatizing beliefs and be met with cultural sensitivity when developing community prevention and treatment outreach programs designed to reduce HIV/AIDS among Ethiopians.