Daily Champion (Lagos)
Ngozi Odocha
1 December 2005
opinion
Lagos — I woke up this morning thinking about the numerous problems we have in this world, especially in this our beloved country called Nigeria. Here in Lagos, the weather is so hot and humid; electricity must have taken flight from Lagos for almost one week as most areas have been without light or water. Someone told me sometime ago that in Lagos, electricity is almost on permanent vacation and is only on stand-by in most houses while the generators, with their noise and disturbance to unfortunate neighbours are the main source of light. My mind drifted to what happened last week.
I had a wedding to attend at Ikeja. It took almost eternity to get there from Surulere. What with the grinding 'go-slow'. Luckily, we barely made it before the Church Service ended. As we came out of the church to take photographs, I saw many gaily dressed men and women, beautiful young ladies and young men. As I looked at these young people, the girls showing off their bodies in off-shoulder dresses and the men admiring them unashamedly, I wished the contents of the minds of everybody preset could be on display
My mind went to AIDS. I became oblivious of the beauty around me, I was only seeing higly emaciated, sick and dying people. I began to wonder if these people know about HIV/AIDS. How do they hope to protect themselves from it? Do they even know that they are at risk of contracting it? This has become a burden to me, to make sure that we preserve these beautiful young people in Lagos and throughout Nigeria.
Is it impossible today or any day to have 'a world without HIV/AIDS?', I doubt it very much , probably not in our lifetime. I say this because, AIDS spreading at a frightening rate is alarming, with some of the hardest hit countries having high rate of infection of about 30 per cent among their adult population. In the year 2000, an estimated 3.8 million became infected with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and 2.4 million have died. HIV/AIDS has now become a human tragedy with no cure in sight
The HIV/AIDS situation in Nigeria is worsening each day. Since the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in Nigeria in 1986, there has been a steady rise from 1.8 per cent prevalence in 1993 to 3.8 per cent in 1994, 4.5 per cent in 1996, 5.4 per cent in 1999 to 5.8 per cent in 2000. The majority of those who die of AIDS are youths and adults in their productive prime. For this reason, the impact of HIV/AIDS on the work force as well as other sectors of the economy will become very severe if left unchecked.
A lot of people have heard about AIDS, and most seem to be aware of the effect of HIV/AIDS. During a HIV/AIDS awareness campaign carried out among some youths in Lagos, they were asked if they knew people who have died of AIDS and they responded, "Yes, many". But, has this changed anything? Are people still not exposing themselves to the virus? This only proves that hearing is not the same as doing or acting on what we have heard. We need to listen very well, learn and apply what we have learnt in our daily lives. It is only when our behaviour changes as a result of what we hear that we know that learning has taken place.
The theme of the 2005 World AIDS Day, Stop AIDS, keep the promise, is a challenge to all of us. While we expect more national and international involvement towards the fight against HIV and AIDS, we should also make personal commitments that will protect both our loved ones and us from the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS. As parent and adults we should not only be able to say 'no' to casual sex and other risky behaviours, we should teach our children, wards and other young ones when and how to say 'no'.
Abstinence is still the best protection against AIDS. Sex is worth waiting for, we tell young men and women but many of them are finding it increasingly difficult to abstain or wait . My advice is, any young person who cannot abstain or wait for the right time should please use a condom. Sex may not be the only means of getting the infection but over 90 per cent of infection in this part of the world is attributed to it.
As we celebrate yet another World AIDS Day, let us also spare a thought for those among us who are already infected with HIV. How are we treating them? Are we showing enough understanding and compassion? How can we help them survive in spite of their condition? What of the orphans left behind?
One of the best ways to assist our infected brothers and sisters is not to stigmatize them. Knowing that one does not contract AIDS by casual contact, there is no need to isolate or discriminate against somebody because of his or her HIV status.
Stigmatisation is harmful because it leads to feeling of shame, guilt and isolation. Because of the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, and the discrimination that may follow from this, the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and their families are frequently violated. This violation of rights causes undue anxiety and distress which aggravate ill-health and ultimately increase the negative impact of the epidemic.
When an infected person experiences love and care, he/she would like to live longer and would not want to deliberately spread the virus. So let us show and share some love especially during this yuletide. Let us also remember children that have been orphaned as a result of AIDS.
By the way, do you know your HIV status? This is one issue that many people feel uncomfortable about and would rather not discuss. Because the virus can stay in the body for a long time without symptoms, it is possible that people can have it without knowing, specially if one had indulged in unprotected sex or had been transfused with unscreened blood. These are therefore good reasons why people need to know their HIV status.
- If one is HIV negative, he/she can stop wondering and learn ways to stay that way.
- If one is HIV positive, then one starts to take better care of ones health and environment, or start early treatment to help one stay healthy longer, and also makes sure he/she does not spread it to loved ones.
Many hospitals carry out confidential counselling and testing. You can go voluntarily and "Nicodemusly" for testing to make sure you are Ok.
If you are still involved in any of those high-risk behaviours, you need to change. If you cannot stop, please use a condom, consistently and correctly. Let us join the whole world today to focus on keeping commitments to stop AIDS at all levels: Personal, community, organisational and governmental. AIDS is very much here in Nigeria. If we cannot have a world without AIDS, we can at least have a life without AIDS.
Dr. Odocha is HIV/AIDS Consultant,
HUDNET Services, Lagos.
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