The Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Sani Aliyu, has warned Nigerians against discriminating people living with HIV.
Aliyu in an interview with newsmen said, “You cannot get on top of HIV if we continue to have a stigma. People don’t have a choice when it comes to HIV.
“If you get it, it is because you accidentally ‘hit’ it. Nobody voluntarily goes out to ‘catch’ HIV. So why should you stigmatise that person?”
Stigma and discrimination are considered major problems for people living with HIV/AIDS globally.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
People living with HIV often experience stigma, hostility, denial of gainful employment, forced resignation or retirement, delivery of poor quality treatment and segregation in hospital wards.
From the reporter’s findings, fear of rejection is rife amongst persons living with the ailment in Nigeria.
Miss Ikwe is one of the many Nigerians born with the virus.
“At age 10, I saw a doctor at the University College Hospital, Ibadan writing HIV positive and viral load on a form.
“While I was stepping out, I asked my mum. Do I have HIV? And her response was, yes; you have HIV. She said it carelessly, and that was how I knew about my status,” she said
Just like Ms Ikwe, millions of People Living With HIV (PLHIV) have to deal with stigma.
“Once people know you are positive to the virus, the stigma comes in consciously or unconsciously.
“Stigmatisation is nothing new to people living with HIV. If you do not experience it from family members, you will get it from health workers and society.
“As long as the society is concerned, once you have HIV, you have become a walking ghost,” says Ameh (the first name withheld).
However, unlike Ikwe, Ameh was not born with the virus.
“I was not born with HIV. I got to know of my status at age 22,” she said.
