Beyond the Virus: BUSSW Researchers Bring HIV Stigma Research to Harvard Symposium
For many people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, the greatest threat to their health isn’t the virus itself. It’s the shame, silence, and social exclusion that follow a diagnosis that keeps people from seeking the care they need.
That reality was at the center of a research presentation by Margaret Lombe, professor at Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW), along with colleagues Lyndsey McMahan, and Dr. Charles Hakoma, HIV specialist from Zambia, at the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Annual Scientific Symposium. The daylong event brought together expert researchers, clinicians, public health professionals, and community leaders to advance the fight against HIV.
Their presentation, “AIDS Related Stigma in sub-Saharan Africa: What the Evidence Reveals,” examined what decades of research tell us about one of the most persistent barriers to ending the HIV epidemic: stigma.
Research Identifies Six Effective Interventions
Professor Lombe, McMahan, and Hakoma conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed intervention studies published between 2010 and 2025, focusing specifically on stigma reduction efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. Their review found that stigma operates on two levels: at the individual level, shaping how people internalize shame and self-blame, and at the community level, reflecting deeper social norms and collective beliefs about who deserves dignity and care.
The review also identified what the most effective interventions had in common: community awareness campaigns, peer-led education delivered by people living with HIV, psychosocial support, cognitive behavioral therapy, anti-discrimination protections, and human rights training for healthcare providers.
Current Anti-Science Climate Makes Some More Vulnerable
Professor Lombe, who chairs BUSSW’s Macro Practice department, has long focused her work on system-level change and the well-being of marginalized communities. The Harvard CFAR symposium provided a national platform for that work at a moment when, as the researchers note, the current political climate is “in direct opposition to science,” and when people living with HIV in low-resource countries are especially vulnerable to the consequences.
Learn more about Professor Lombe’s research