Murjanatu Mohammed Abba
12 January 2009
People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) now complain very emotively that societal stigmatisation and segregation against them have assumed such frightful dimensions that their parents and siblings disown them and they are so poor that they cannot pay their children's school fees.
As Government makes giant strides in the HIV response, access to anti-retroviral drugs seems to be no longer a problem in the HIV/AIDS response and control. Governments at various levels, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other international donor agencies are assessed by the larger section of the global public as demonstrating increased commitment and determination to reduce the spread of HIV and make life better for those already infected and affected by the pandemic in line with the 6th Millennium Development Goal (MDGs), which is: "Combating HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and other chronic and communicable diseases".
However, a lot still needs to be done, especially as it affects women and children.
According to statistics, women and children constitute a higher percentage of individuals infected by the virus and this factor contributes to the rapid spread of the infection.
In order to tackle this problem, a unified advocacy platform for addressing the vulnerability of women and children to HIV infection known as the National Women Coalition on HIV/AIDS (NAWOCA), was recently launched by the First Lady, Hajiya Turai Yar'Adua, in all the six geo-political zones in the country.
During the launching of NAWOCA, as part of efforts to mitigate the impact of the HIV epidemic on Persons Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), food stuff, and income generating equipment like grinding machines, sewing and knitting machines along with start-up capital for income generating activities were provided to PLWHA.
Speaking at the launch of the North-West Zone of NAWOCA held at the township Stadium in Kaduna recently, the First Lady reaffirmed her commitment to provide a Platform for Action that would provide and facilitate education, public awareness and advocacies aimed at reducing the spread of HIV infection and mitigating the impact on those already infected, especially as it relates to women and children across every nook and cranny of this country.
She urged all Nigerians to regard and utilize NAWOCA as an advocacy instrument for engaging women in a positive manner in the National HIV/AIDS Response.
While urging all Nigerians to get involved in the HIV response in their communities by serving as foot soldiers in the multi-faceted Response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, she stressed that: "For the National HIV/AIDS response to yield positive results, all hands must be on deck to ensure a reduction in the spread of the infection and access to treatment, care and support for those already infected'.
Delivering a keynote address at the official launching of the North- western zone of NAWOCA, Director General of the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA), Professor Babatunde Oshotimehin (now the Minister of Health) stated that though HIV was first discovered in 1986 in Nigeria, it was not until 1999 that government realized that HIV could pose a serious threat to national development and started to respond appropriately by developing a strategy to control the spread and mitigate the impact of the infection.
According to Professor Oshotimehin, present research statistics show that 4.4 percent of adults in Nigeria are infected with HIV. This means that four out of every 100 adults are HIV-positive in Nigeria. He also noted that the African continent constitutes 75 percent of People Living with HIV and AIDS in the world and that women and children account for 60 percent of those infected.
Speaking with particular reference to Nigeria, he said out of a population of 140 million, 4.4 percent (three million people) were living with the HIV virus as at 2005.
Despite efforts being made at various levels in the HIV/AIDS Response, one of the major problems faced by the PLWHA is that of stigma and discrimination.
Some of the PLWHA narrated their ordeal and the genesis of their infection, alongside their challenges, especially with regards to discrimination from friends, colleagues and even within their immediate families.
According to some of them who spoke to Daily Trust during the NAWOCA launch, 'disclosing one's HIV status has attendant problems and can pose some challenges, as people tend to dissociate themselves from you once you disclose your HIV status to them' This accounts for the reluctance and shame on the part of many PLWHA to come out openly and disclose their status.
For Mohammed Zakariyya, however, declaring his HIV/AIDS status to Daily Trust was not a shameful thing, as he declared confidently that he was positive. He also said that he had been on anti-retroviral drugs, which make it possible for him to live a healthy life like every other person and carry on with his day to day activities.
Mohammed Zakariyya further disclosed that he has been aware of his HIV status since the last three years, and that in spite of the stigma, he is not deterred from contributing his quota to the development of his community. He also said he felt it was mandatory for his wife to know her HIV status and that he took her to the hospital for HIV test.
Hear Mohammed: "Actually it started like a joke, because I never for once anticipated it. As I am talking to you now, I cannot tell you how I contracted the disease or who infected me. All I knew is that I was always suffering from fever and it was on and off for quite a while, which I suspected was typhoid. I went to the clinic and they conducted a comprehensive test on me. What actually came to me as a surprise was the way and manner the doctor talked to me. He counseled me on the virus, saying that I should exercise patience and not lose hope, and explaining that the anti-retroviral drug is its control. He assured me that the drugs are now accessible and provided free-of-charge by the government in some health centres."
Zakariyya continued: "That was when I even began to suspect something. I then asked the doctor to go straight to the point and explain my problem. He disclosed my status by explaining to me in detail because when I was presented my comprehensive test result sheet, I did not understand the content, though I never suspected I was carrying the virus. At the beginning of it all, I must confess that I could not believe the doctor until when I was further counseled by him. Later, I started taking my drugs. It did not come to me as a surprise. My wife followed suit, as she was always suffering from one ailment or another. The doctor suggested that she be tested and when the result came out, she was equally positive. Although she really panicked upon knowing her status, just like me, with words of encouragement, she later relaxed after receiving counseling by the doctors."
Commenting on the issue of stigma and discrimination, he argued that it was unfortunate that people always fail to understand that the infection has other modes of transmission besides sexual transmission and that people always believe that all infections are transmitted sexually.
He cited the case of infected babies as an example including that of people in monogamous or even polygamous marriages who have been faithful to their husbands/wives, lamenting emphatically: "People are not being fair when they jump to conclusion by linking HIV infection with sex alone without considering other modes of transmission".
He noted that the most important thing is not how a person got infected with HIV (since it is not always easy to ascertain this) but that PLWHA should continue to receive the support and respect of the community so that they can contribute their quota to the development of their communities.
Muhammad Zakariyya, however, called on government to assist the PLWHA with capital to embark on different vocations, stressing that the anti-retroviral drugs given to them are enough for the control of the virus but, he lamented, "these anti-retroviral drugs cannot be fully active when one is hungry or taking an imbalanced diet. Many of us cannot afford balanced diet. As a matter of fact, many of us sometimes beg for transport fare to come to the clinic for these drugs due to the level of poverty among us. Many PLWHA are now handicapped due to discriminations we face from our immediate communities. Many of us lost our jobs when our statuses were revealed and the society always shuns us, and that is why many people die of the epidemic without going to the clinic for the drugs as they are afraid and ashamed of disclosing their status."
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