Endorsement of a Genocidal HIV Conspiracy as a Barrier to HIV Testing in South Africa
Published in: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, v. 49, no. 1, Sep. 1, 2008, p. 115-116
Posted on RAND.org on January 01, 2008
Over 20% of South Africans aged 15-49 years are infected with HIV, with substantially higher prevalences in black African settlements than in other areas. According to media reports and commentaries, misinformation about the epidemic has arisen among black Africans, including genocidal conspiracy beliefs about the role of government and whites in causing the epidemic (eg, that HIV is manufactured by whites to reduce or control the black African population).
This report is part of the RAND Corporation External publication series. Many RAND studies are published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as chapters in commercial books, or as documents published by other organizations.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.