Introduction:

One of the factors causing great suffering to many people infected by the human immune deficiency virus is the so-called "social HIV/AIDS", consisting in the marginalization of or discrimination against sufferers by members of the non-infected population, due to fear of a hypothetical transmission of the virus.

Objective:

Identify the socio-cultural factors fostering HIV/AIDS-related stigma among male workers from the health sector.

Methods:

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted of male workers from Ramón López Peña polyclinic, who were given a questionnaire about HIV/AIDS-related stigmatizing behavior. The variables analyzed were age, religious beliefs and stigmas.

Results:

Of the total respondents, 29.4% were aged 40-44 years, 70% were manual workers and 84.6% were engaged in religious practice. 75%-80% of the respondents reported negative attitudes and beliefs about people living with HIV, and 38.8% had received information about the transmission routes of the disease on the media.

Conclusions:

Religious beliefs and negative behavior and attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS are identified as socio-cultural factors fostering stigma about this disease among health workers, negatively impacting the quality of life of those people, since their rights are violated, their social mobility hampered, and their social and psychological development restricted.

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