The Explorative Study of the Socio-Economic State of HIV Affected Patients in Iran (The Case of Patients of the Infectious Sector in Imam Khomeini Hospital)

Throughout last years, we have witnessed a growing trend in HIV affected patients in the country in general and in the city of Tehran in particular. HIV/AIDS disease creates various HIV-related socio-economic troubles for an infected patient in a manner seeming that these troubles are much more fatal that those coming up from the very illness of AIDS. For this reason, this study has focused on the socio-economic state of HIV affected patients in Iran using the case of patients in the infectious sector of Imam Khomeini Hospital. Techniques of qualitative methods such as indepth interview and focused-group discussion were used to collect the research data. The findings indicated that this disease highly affect the socio-economic state of the AIDS patient in different ways, particularly excluding him/ her from natural and civil rights mainly through the process of stigmatization and labeling.