HEALTH-NIGERIA: Stigmatisation, the Bane of HIV/AIDS Scourge

by Toye Olori

LAGOS, Nov 28 (IPS) - The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria is a result of stigmatisation and discrimination against people who have tested positive, say experts.

‘'Discriminating against people who are infected is forcing the epidemic under the carpet, where it does no one any good. It continues to spread. But if we are able to control stigma, discrimination and rejection, more people will have the courage to come out and test, and it will be easy to control the disease a little better,'' says Pat Matemola, co-ordinator of the Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS.

Nigeria, along with the rest of the world, marks this year's AIDS Day on Sunday (Dec 1).

Matemola says out of an estimated 3.5 million Nigerians, living with HIV/AIDS, only about 100,000 know their status. ‘'The problem is, if you decide to quarantine them as suggested by some people, what about the millions living free in the society, who do not know they are positive? They will continue spreading it,'' he explains.

‘'Just like an outsider can stigmatise a carrier, the carrier, too, can stigmatise himself by running away from the reality. If a person tests positive, the first thing he does is to run away from the general public and the public, on the other hand, runs away from him. He is isolated and that isolation is the first thing that drives the person down,'' says Matemola, a retired soldier who tested positive in 1993.

Hairat Gwadabe, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on HIV/AIDS, says stigmatisation and discrimination promote the spread of the disease.

‘'Once a person is stigmatised, the next thing is that you must keep that person away from the normal process. If it is in the work place, the tendency is that the person should no longer come to work and if he does come to work, they will discriminate against what type of work is given to the person,'' she states.

‘'This is human rights violation which the Nigerian constitution abhors,' ' she says. ‘'The United Nations resolution 199 defines the status in all human rights instruments including health status which also includes HIV status.''

‘'We have identified that when you discriminate against somebody living with HIV/AIDS, you are indirectly violating his or her human rights. The ILO (International Labour Organisation) has a guideline on work place practice for people living with HIV/AIDS. That needs to be turned into proper legislation for our country and applied as a policy in the work places and people in the work places must be educated properly,'' says Gwadabe.

Jerome Mafeni, a member of the World AIDS Day Organising Committee, says scary messages were sent out when the disease was first diagnosed in Nigeria in the late 1970s.

‘'When HIV first hit Nigeria, the messages that were put out to the public was that it is a dreaded disease that dried up people before you know it. They saw pictures of people totally emaciated in hospitals and were told that it has no cure and once you have the disease it was a death sentence. Naturally, people getting that kind of information will be scared and it is that fear that led to that stigma because people started avoiding those who tested positive, since they do not understand how it comes about,'' Mafeni argues.

To correct that image, he says, the new message should read: ‘'yes, if you get HIV there is no cure at this point, but it is not equivalent to a death sentence. People get diabetes, there is no permanent cure but they live long life. People get hypertension but they live long. HIV is no different from any of those other conditions. It is a disease that people get and they can live with it''.

‘'The public needs to understand how people are infected, how anyone who tests positive can live with it in such a way that they do not become a burden to both themselves and those taking care of them,'' he says.

A 2002 UN report shows that some 30 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live with the HIV virus, while an estimated eight percent of the adult population in Africa has the virus. The report warns that worse is still to come.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) says the best way of dealing with HIV/AIDS in a given country, is the awareness of the fact that the disease exists.

‘'I think Nigeria has come to grips with the issue as shown by President Olusegun Obasanjo himself in creating a National Action Committee on AIDS. The first step has been taken that Nigeria is aware that HIV/AIDS is a problem for its country and its population,'' says Koen Vanolinsen, who is in charge of UNICEF's health and nutrition section in Nigeria.

He urged Nigerians to get rid of discrimination and stigmatisation. ‘'We care, do you? should be the motto of every Nigerian because we care when our children suffer malaria, we care when our children suffer diarrhoea or any of the respiratory diseases which are the major killers of children. Why should we not care when our brothers and sisters suffer from HIV/AIDS? It is the concern about the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters that we need to take to the fore,'' he says.

Narrating how an infected person can live longer, Matemola, a carrier, says a person who tests positive to HIV must live positively if they must live longer.

‘'Living positively means one must be able to combat the psychological effect of testing positive. You must be able to conquer self-stigmatisation and face external stigmatisation and stand up. One must be able to recognise quickly all opportunistic infections and treat them promptly. Also sanitation and personal hygiene is necessary. He must help the body to build itself up through adequate exercises, to take adequate nutrition, vitamin supplements and micro-nutrients that help the body build itself,'' Matemola says.

‘'HIV does not kill, HIV leads to AIDS after it has destroyed the body immune system. Between HIV and AIDS, there are a lot of things one can put in place to slowdown the progression. At the National Network of People Living With AIDS, we talk about positive living. In my own experience when I tested positive in 1993 I worked fully at my desk up till the time I retired in 2000. And I dare say even after my retirement I have become more active than I was when I was in the military. The secret behind it is living positively. I have never been on drugs since I live positively,'' he says.

In Nigeria, the theme chosen for this year's AIDS Day is ‘'Stigmatisation and discrimination''. (END/2002)