Hepatitis C Social Stigma

Hepatitis C is fast becoming one of the biggest health issues affecting people in Australia and globally. Its contagious behaviour, although seen as a microbial norm, is characterised by the stigma commonly associated by patients diagnosed with the virus, that those who are involved with illegal injection of substances are those who make up the majority of those affected. Fraser in her essay, Beyond the “potsherd”, and a set of other supporting sources, argue that the social stigmatisation of a disease plays just as much of an important role in its construction than just the medical side. Similarly, I put forward the notion that stigma is vital in its construction, and, as academics such as Cama and so on argue, that the culture associated …show more content…
As Keesing states, culture is “the pattern of life within a community-the regularly recurring activities and material and social arrangements. [Secondly, it is] the realm of ideas [or perceptions held by a people]” (Keesing, 1975). Therefore, when examining a disease such as HCV, the consideration of culture in determining a disease’s effect and evaluating its social stigma is a valuable addition. Fraser in her essay identifies that disease can firstly impact society and culture, and secondly disease can be “constituted by society and culture” (Fraser, 2011). Citing Paula Treichler’s work, How to have Theory in an Epidemic: Cultural Chronicles of AIDS, Fraser draws links between AIDS/HIV and HCV. In Treichler’s book, critiqued in Fraser’s essay, HIV is constituted as a disease prominent amongst the homosexual community. This leap in association with a disease to a singular social group is often established through statistics. Fraser, citing Latour, refers this notion of association as “matters of concern” and “matters of fact”, with association being identified as the latter. Although the 78% figure of men affected by HIV are homosexual, with this population making up 4% of the US’ population of men (AIDS.gov, n.d.) would seem convincing to the general public, therefore perpetuating the assumption that HIV is a “gay disease”, this dismisses the idea of matter of concern, that despite the large population of those affected conforming to that particular persuasion, there are other populations affected who deserve equal respect and

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