Factors influencing HIV risk-taking behaviours amongst textile factory workers living with HIV in Lesotho

Abstract

With its number of employees ranging from 45,310 to 46,000, the textile and apparel industry is the main private sector employer of labour in
Lesotho. It has been reported that a third (an estimated 34%) of these workers are living with HIV. There is perception that textile factory workers
living with HIV (TFWLWH) in Lesotho indulge in HIV risk-taking behaviours. However, no study has yet investigated or documented factors that
influence risk-taking behaviours amongst these workers. Transmitting the disease to others, treatment complications and death consequent to HIV
reinfection are complications associated with HIV risk-taking behaviours by seropositive individuals. Using an in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured
interview, this study obtained the perspectives of ten factory workers from three randomly selected textile factories in Maseru, Lesotho on factors
that influence HIV-risk taking behaviour amongst TFWLWH in Lesotho. Analysis of the comments given by workers revealed four core themes,
namely, peer pressure, communication, cultural norms and societal norms. Determining the predictors of HIV risk-taking behaviours amongst these
workers will inform both present and future interventions aimed at supporting textile factory workers living with HIV in Lesotho. This supports the
need for continued research to identify HIV risk-taking behaviours by people living with HIV countrywide, to decrease the incidence of new infections
and complications arising from reinfection.