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STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION AS A BARRIER IN COMPACTING HIV/AIDS
Related to country: Nigeria

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STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION AS A BARRIER IN COMPACTING HIV/AIDS

Because HIV/AIDS is associated with behaviors that may be considered socially unacceptable by many people, HIV infection is widely stigmatized. People living with the virus are frequently subject to discrimination and human rights abuses: many have been thrown out of jobs and homes, rejected by family and friends, and some have even been killed. Together, stigma and discrimination constitute one of the greatest barriers in dealing effectively with the epidemic. They discourage governments from acknowledging or taking timely action against AIDS. They deter individuals from finding out about their HIV status. And they inhibit those who know they are infected from sharing their diagnosis and taking action to protect others and from seeking treatment and care for themselves. Experience teaches that a strong Network of people living with HIV/AIDS that affords mutual support and a voice at local and national levels is particularly effective in tackling stigma. There is a need to have a special budget from Federal Government for Network of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria both at the National, State and local government level Moreover, the presence of treatment makes this task easier too: where there is hope, people are less afraid of AIDS; they are more willing to be tested for HIV, to disclose their status, and to seek care if necessary. Let us think about bringing treatment to the grass root, let us think of upgrading the health facilities located at the rural area.

March 14, 2009 | 12:13 PM Comments  0 comments

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UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO TREATMENT: PLWHA IN RURAL AREAS HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO ANTIRETROVIRAL
Related to country: Nigeria

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO TREATMENT: PLWHA IN RURAL AREAS HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO ANTIRETROVIRAL

PLWHA in rural areas are experiencing increasingly limited access to antiretroviral drugs. People in the rural areas also tend to be more marginalized than those in urban locations. Although most of people living with HIV/AIDS in the country who need antiretroviral access live in rural areas, three-quarters of PLWHA taking the drugs are from urban areas.

PLWHA in rural areas often rely on herbal remedies due to lack of correct information and access to treatment. PLWHA living in the rural area who need antiretroviral find themselves in a quandary because off the distance to urban city and levels of income for a rural household tend to be low, The financial costs associated with antiretroviral go beyond the price of the drugs, the high cost of transportation to health centers means that many low-income PLWHA who need ARV, often take antiretroviral infrequently or not at all.

In addition, stigma and discrimination often prevent people from receiving HIV test or accessing treatment in the rural area. Young people particularly are vulnerable to the virus because they sometimes become sexually active at a young age and are not empowered to make decisions because of a rigidly social structure in the rural area.

There is much need for social structures to impart information to poor rural people so that they know their rights as far as getting tested and counseled. There is need to establish treatment centers in the rural area so that it will be accessible for rural communities. How can we achieve 100% adherence if PLWHA travels for more than two hours to access treatment? Some herbal homes and private hospitals are taking advantage of that on PLWHA in the rural area

NEPWHAN have done well by straightening support groups of PLWHA through capacity building, Office equipment, introduction Income generating activities (IGA) etc. to response to the numerous challenges PLWHA are facing from that area. This has gone a long way to reduce the burden of transportation to treatment centers among PLWHA in that area. But how many PLWHA can this IGA support? More needs to be done and proper decentralizations of treatment centers are urgent need.

March 14, 2009 | 11:48 AM Comments  0 comments

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Combating HIV/AIDS Stigma, a Global Challenge
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Combating HIV/AIDS Stigma, a Global Challenge

Global AIDS numbers have dropped dramatically, but that is only half the battle won. Stigma towards HIV-positive Person needs to be countered if the threat of AIDS is to be overcome.

An Indian soldier discovers he is HIV-positive and is forced to deal with the termination of his services. An HIV-positive pregnant woman from West Bengal has a sticker plastered on her forehead by hospital staff; she is isolated in the ward and refused the urgent medical attention she needed. A couple is stoned, branded outcast by there community because they are HIV-positive. A HIV-positive woman aborts her own baby because hospital staff refuses to assist her. This intense stigma can be painful to endure.

The good news is that the number of people contracting HIV infection is dropping, worldwide. A few months ago, UNAIDS, releases its AIDS Epidemic Update for 2007, said new data show global HIV prevalence (the percentage of people living with HIV) has leveled off and the number of new infections has fallen, in part as a result of the impact of HIV programme.

Nigeria now ranks second among nations with the largest number of people living with HIV (www.globalhealth.org). Taking the optimistic arithmetic apart, the experiences of ordinary people living with HIV tell another story. Stigma and not surveillance, is the biggest problem.

A 25-year-old boy from Obosi Anambra State commits suicide to escape the stigma piled on, because of improper counseling during testing. Private hospitals and laboratories pose a big challenge in compacting HIV/AIDS related Stigma in the rural area of Nigeria. Not only that some of them do not have up to date equipment in diagnosis, they are lacking information about HIV/AIDS where by causing psychological trauma to any body that passes through them which might result to suicide mission.

Stigma is hard to track and its impact even harder to measure. There is a need to generated data on stigma by including surveys on HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes and behavior. Overall acceptance measured through indicators like willingness to care for a positive person or accept a positive person, even associate with positive person is also needed.


Those vulnerable to and are experiencing social stigma and discrimination will be puzzled if they were told that awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS is higher than before. Awareness is not translating into tolerance or a shedding of stigma.

Protection against HIV and preventing its spread is certainly a key message, but protection using stigma and alienation will go nowhere. It is always challenging to fight for legislation and better policy outcomes. Nigeria is working on a law against discrimination of HIV-positive person. But laws and policies cannot be substitutes for a humane approach.

March 14, 2009 | 11:40 AM Comments  0 comments

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