Stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/ AIDS must be stopped if the battle against the spread of the virus is to be won.

By O’Femi Kolawole

"The doctor told me I had less than a month to live before I die. By the time I received the news, I was so bitter. I thought that was the end of my life. When members of my family heard the news, the way they treated me was so bad. They stigmatised me. They said I was a shame to the family. I was about commit suicide before people saw me and quickly stopped me." George Ibikunle, a person living with HIV/ AIDS told The Week of his experience.

Depression. The depressive countenance of Ibikunle confirms the truly dangerous consequences of stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) from other members of society.

Ibikunle, who tested positive to HIV in 1997, would perhaps have been lost to the HIV/ AIDS epidemic if not for the timely and maybe, divine intervention of his neighbours. And this would not have been because the virus had broken down his immunity, but possibly because of the uncaring and unsupportive attitude of other members of the public as well as the shame and social rejection which he had to cope with. Today, he works as project coordinator of Foundation AIDS Alliance (FAA), advocating against HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination, as well as acting as counsellor for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Ibikunle’s case is by no means a peculiar one. Rolake Nwagwu and Abigael Obeten are just a few of the almost four million other Nigerians who have undergone the same harrowing experience of stigma and discrimination because they are living with HIV/ AIDS.

Shock. Obeten, a PLWHA and counsellor at the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) probably had the most shocking experience of them all. She experienced stigmatisation and discrimination from members of her church! Obeten may have stopped attending the church where she had the terrible rejection experience, but she has adapted her experience into focusing on her work as a counsellor and creating more awareness about HIV/ AIDS. " I teach people that it is not all about death, but an infection like any other infection". And like any other disease, early detection and adequate treatment can curtail its spread.

The fight against stigmatisation has become an all-frontal thing with other groups within Nigeria focusing on the fight as a major project. Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria has commenced a two-year project aimed at mobilising popular support against stigmatisation.

Trend. Olusina Falana’s Academy for Educational Development (AED) shares the same vision as JAAIDS-Nigeria. Falana, Nigeria’s coordinator for the American-based private voluntary organisation, is implementing the SMARTWORK project (Strategically Managing AIDS Responses together in Nigeria), which is meant to address the issue of stigmatisation and discrimination against people who are living with HIV/AIDS in the work place. Falana told The Week that the new policy of some companies mandating applicants to undergo HIV/AIDS screening before they are employed should be jettisoned. "It is wrong because when you look at the International Labour Organisation’s code of practice, it says there should be no discrimination against anyone living with HIV or even anyone who has AIDS", he stated. Moreover, he believes voluntary counselling and testing for HIV/AIDS should be encouraged for those in the workplace so that by the time they know their status, they will be able to live a positive life that will prevent them from infecting others.

Attitudes. Cruel and degrading attitudes, refused and/or termination of employment, denied right to marriage, rejection by families, friends, churches, mosques and other religious organisations, as well as other discriminative actions and behaviours towards people living with HIV/AIDS must be stopped.

Nigeria still depends on the 2001 sentinel survey report of 5.8 percent of HIV prevalence to make projections about the extent and severity of the disease in the country. By now the rate of infection might have increased. Thus, addressing stigma and discrimination would certainly deal a fatal but positive blow to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

One good example of what curbing stigmatisation can do is found readily in Ibikunle. He had thought of suicide as a result of the stigma that followed the realisation of his status. But six years after thinking of killing himself, Ibikunle can live without pressure. He is still living fine, using antiretroviral drugs. Hopefully, quite soon, a cure would be found for the disease. But until then, people living with HIV/AIDS should not be sent to early graves via stigma and discrimination wrought by an ignorant society. After all, where there is life, there is hope.