The New Nation - Internet Edition

Syful Islam

Syful Islam

Stigma towards HIV-positive people emerged as challenge to the global efforts to combat the deadly disease of AIDS.

"Stigma towards HIV-positive person needs to be countered to overcome the threat of AIDS," global health practitioners say.

In Bangladesh HIV/AIDS patients and their family members are also victim of stigma, said Raju Rozario, executive director of the Mukto Akash, an organisation working with the HIV positive patients.

He said recently an English daily published the name and particulars of a sex worker who have been found infected with HIV positive virus.

"The sex worker has a 10 years old daughter who might face difficulties in the future as the case is being documented and our society is still much conservative," he said.

The recent UNAIDS survey report shows that global AIDS numbers have dropped dramatically, but in Bangladesh the number of HIV/AIDS patient raised alarmingly.

According to Ibekwe Ogochukwu Alexander, Southeast coordinator of association of positive youths in Nigeria, an Indian soldier discovered that he is HIV-positive and was 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 resulting her to be isolated in the ward and refused the urgent medical attention she needed.

A couple was stoned, branded outcast by the community because they are HIV-positive. A HIV-positive woman aborted her own baby because hospital staff refused to assist her. This intense stigma can be painful to endure.

Nigeria now ranks second among nations with the largest number of people living with HIV. 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 committed 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 whereby causing psychological trauma to any body that passes through them which might result to suicide mission.

Tracking stigma is hard and its impact even harder to measure. There is a need to generate data on stigma by including surveys on HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes and behaviour. Overall acceptance measured through indicators like willingness to care for a positive person or accept a positive person, even associate with a 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 being translated into tolerance or 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.