Corpus-based study of UNAIDS reports: Focusing on ‘people/person living with HIV/AIDS’

Drawing on a corpus-based method and a specialized medical corpus, this article examines patterns in the use of the expressions ‘people/person living with HIV/AIDS’ in UNAIDS reports. The analysis reveals that people living with HIV/AIDS are frequently positioned as passive and negatively constructed subjects, while UNAIDS simultaneously produces discourses centered on protecting their human rights. Nevertheless, target figures and measurable indicators are consistently foregrounded, and the plural form ‘people’ occurs far more frequently than the singular form ‘person’, indicating a predominantly group-oriented framing. Even when the constraints of the report genre are taken into account, these findings appear to contrast with the recent emphasis on narrative-centered approaches in the medical humanities and medical education. This study therefore points to the needs for a more balanced integration of collective and individual, narrative-based perspectives.