STIGMATIZATION INTERFERES EFFORTS TO PREVENTING HIV/AIDS

DATE: 1ST FEBRUARY, 2012
For more than two decades, HIV related stigmatization, discrimination and denial have characterized the pandemic and presented a major challenge to the effectiveness of prevention, care and treatment programmes. Much of the societal and individual reaction towards people with HIV/AIDS arises from the perception attached to the virus. Even though most Ghanaians are much knowledgeable about how the disease is acquired but still believes it is an only immoral person who acquires the virus. In an exclusive interview with some of HIV/AIDS infected individuals they noted with concern that the consequences of stigma and discrimination are wide ranging which include being shunned by families, peers and the wider community, poor treatment in health care and education vetting, an erosion of rights, psychological damage and a negative effect on the success of HIV testing and treatment. AIDS stigma and discrimination exist world-wide although they manifest themselves differently across countries, communities, religious groups and individuals. In an interview with Sena news, the head of programmes for HIV/AIDS, Ms. Faustina Ocansey of NETWOMEN PLUS, intimated that stigma not only makes it more difficult for people trying to come to terms with HIV and manage their illness on a personal evel but it also interferes with attempts to fight the AIDS epidemic as a whole.
She emphasized that, due to the stigma attached to the disease, people fail to check their status in order not to be bothered by the outcome in case it is positive, which to her is a detriment to the fight against the disease in the country and Africa as a whole. She explained that if the country wants to curb the rapid spread of the virus especially among the youth, then it should be ready to assist in the fight against the discrimination and stigma meted out to HIV/AIDS infected people. The phenomenon is becoming more worrisome, in that most people with the virus are unwilling to disclose their status due to its associated stigma. This trend is what Ms. Ocansey observed, could trigger the infectious ratio, thus bringing prevention attempts to zero. Again here in Ghana, there are myths associated with the transmission process as some people believe strongly that the infection has also spiritual connotations, hence do not take safe and protected sex seriously. Sena news in our quest to intensify public education on the disease, will continue to seek answers and solicit the support of all to reduce the prevalent rate, if not eradicate it completely.
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