But for the alleged discrimination, abandonment and stigmatisation that they confront, Nigerians living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome have said their living conditions would have been the same with those who don’t have the virus.
They also lamented economic hardship and lack of jobs, saying most of them could not keep up with their medical treatments because they lack money to transport themselves to their various facilities.
HIV/AIDS were touted as diseases that can render the carriers unproductive and liable to painful death. But, people living with the virus said they live their lives well and fulfill their dreams with the help of medications that control the infection and prevent the disease progression, asking non-carriers to stop being negative about their well-being.
Meanwhile, some of the people living with the virus told The Point that the level of stigmatisation and discrimination they have been receiving from non-carriers have been giving them cause for worry, noting that the negative reactions of people towards them could precipitate a kind of “vengeance mission” whereby they would likely indulge in intentional spread of the disease.
It is estimated that about two million people are living with HIV in Nigeria. In Osun for instance, over 30,000 persons are said to be living with the virus.
Speaking in an interview, the National Financial Secretary of Association of Positive Youths Living With HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, Ayodeji Adeniji urged Nigerians to desist from stigmatising carriers of the virus and emphasized the need for carriers to be economically empowered. He added that HIV patients withdraw from treatment once they start getting scornful behaviour from those around them.
Adeniji who is living with HIV disclosed that most of his colleagues who visit facilities to access medications had to beg for transport fare before they could return home, adding that government and other stakeholders needed to rise to the situation and empower them.
While advising people to shun treating PLWHA as less humans, the Osun State Coordinator for the Key Population Health and Right Network noted that society is pushing people living with HIV into being vindictive owing to different kinds of stigma and other inhumane treatments they face.
Adeniji said, “The society has pushed people into being vindictive and inflicting others with the virus. We have different kinds of stigma; we have self-stigma, we have societal stigma and we have family stigma and other forms of stigma. So, stigma is what will lead you to trying to take revenge or dealing with your mental health. If I see people like that, I just say you don’t need to stigmatise yourself, you just need to brace yourself; nobody prayed or asked for it and if you do your research very well, HIV doesn’t mean that someone is promiscuous, no! So, the way society has defined HIV is like those people who are promiscuous or careless. Have they ever thought about sharp objects? Have they ever thought about having an accident and there is a cut and blood flows from HIV carrier to another who is not having it? Have they ever thought of collecting drips and drugs like unscreened blood transfusion, mother to child? So, what would we say about those kinds of people?
“But, stigma and discrimination have led people from withdrawing from care and trying something like, ‘someone gave me and I must give another.”
He added, “When we talk about mental health, it starts from issues revolving that these ones know that they are going to be receiving treatment all through their lives. It is a burden on its own. When people don’t accept them for who they are, not showing them the love they deserve, stigmatising them would lead them to more mental issues. Once a person starts having mental issues by hearing that I have to live with this for the rest of my life, I had to take drugs for the rest of my life, and you now come to say I don’t want to deal with you, it is leading that person to resolve to death by not using their drugs.
“And if those persons don’t use their drugs, it is not immediately that it will lead to AIDS, it is a gradual process. This thing keeps doubling and you still see them looking fresh till at the end stage when they start looking pale and could not carry themselves those periods of time, the person is off-care, anybody mating with them at that period of time is at high risk.
“So, society needs to accept them with love and if you feel you are not too safe with them, accept prep, use pre-exposure prophylaxis. This is a drug that does not allow you to contact HIV. You can also use condoms and if you don’t feel you are at the high risk of it, or you already had sex with someone and you are not sure of their HIV status, then you should go and collect prep. All these things are free. We have been campaigning that HIV tests are free. Just don’t stigmatise people, allow them to live for who they are.”
Adeniji declared that HIV is no longer a death sentence like people used to say, stating that with regular medication, exercise and dieting, the carrier would live long.
According to him, “I have been positively living with HIV for the past years and I am still good. There is a saying that it is what you don’t know that kills you, what you know has a treatment. HIV is not a threat and we are not threats to anybody. There is medication for it and as soon as you treat yourself, you won’t have any problem. It is the untreated HIV that leads to AIDS. So, there is nothing like AIDS anymore, we have HIV. If you do your care very well, you treat yourself, eat better, nobody is going to know anything. You are not sick. It is not like cancer, it is not like any other deadly diseases. We have way far deadlier diseases than HIV. HIV is not deadly, depression, discrimination and stigmatization are the ones that are killing people.“
“I did a visual survey at facilities where people living with HIV are receiving treatment and I discovered that the level of their poverty is alarming. Most of them who are women cannot afford to transport themselves for treatment and the number keeps decreasing. Most of them don’t have work. They are like 70 per cent. If you look at another five per cent of them, they have jobs but they cannot feed themselves for three square meals or two. Now, the first set of people cannot feed themselves for a day and if they can feed themselves for today, they are not sure for tomorrow. The third set of people have but they are not really well to do too.
“There is a need to bring care and support for people living with HIV and AIDS whether we like it or not and this could be done by providing them with empowerment, skill acquisition and job offers. If we want to eradicate HIV in the year 2030, we need to empower people. They are just victims of circumstances. These are part of what affects people’s mental health. There is a need to invest into people living with HIV and AIDS.”
Also calling for necessary support for people living with HIV and AIDS in the country, the Coordinator of the Association of Women Living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria, Osun State, Balikis Adeyemi, said danger lies ahead in the fight against the disease if the carriers could not access treatment.
“We are not empowered and we are not happy that the government is not doing anything about it. Some of us find it difficult to eat and transport themselves to receive medical care. We want the government to assist us with skills and also ensure that we are established. If not, people will be frustrated and do funny things to make ends meet, especially our women and you know what that means,” she said.
