| Sports |
by YANGGA
TREPPE and PATRICK WAMBUA
AIDS stigma, the stumbling block
IN the 25 years since the first case
was reported, AIDS has changed the world.
The disease has killed 25 million people and infected 40 million
more.
It has become the worlds leading cause of death among both women
and men aged between 15 and 59.
It has inflicted the single greatest reversal in the history of
human development. In other words, it has become the greatest
challenge of our generation.
In Papua New Guinea, as the number of infections continues
unabated, stigma and discrimination remains a formidable challenge
to prevention, care and treatment initiatives.
HIV/AIDS-related stigma and its associated discrimination affect
all aspects of HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.
HIV thrives in an environment of ignorance and erodes social
support for infected people, which is access to information,
support groups and economic and legal services.
Reducing stigma and discrimination is crucial to the success of
HIV/AIDS treatment programmes, as the quality of such programmes
can and do depend on the degree at which health centres and
hospitals welcome and respect the rights of the individuals.
One lesson we have learnt in the Tokaut Aids Project is that
stigma and discrimination promotes the culture of silence people
fear to talk about AIDS, let alone disclose that they or a
relative has AIDS.
Stigma, silence and discrimination and denial, as well as lack of
confidentiality, contributes to a climate of fear. This undermines
prevention, care and treatment efforts and further increases the
impact of the epidemic on individuals, families, communities and
PNG as a nation.
Stigma and discrimination views HIV as a disease of outsiders,
which leads to exclusion from the community. This exclusion in
turn engenders lack of involvement and social inaction, leaving
individuals sheltering behind a wall of silence and preventing the
social mobilisation that has proved the most effective tool in
fighting the epidemic.
As a consequence, due to HIV/AIDS-related stigma, appropriate
policies and models of good practice remain undeveloped. Hence,
people living with HIV/AIDS continue to be burdened by poor care
and inadequate services, while those with the power to help
Government, development partners, etc, do little to make the
situation better.
The impact of stigma on the affected individual can lead to
depression, guilt and shame, as well as to behaviour that limits
participation within communities and access to services intended
to assist them.
HIV/AIDS-related stigma constantly reminds members of the
discriminated groups that they are social outcasts or even deserve
to be punished.
If people are mocked or treated with hostility, they may feel
uncared for and are therefore less likely to take steps to protect
themselves.
HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination is a major obstacle to
effective prevention and care for it can prevent governments
(national authorities) from getting a true picture of the burden
of the pandemic because people are not coming forward for testing,
care and support.
This compromises planning, allocation of resources and provision
of services to people with HIV and for people from other highly
vulnerable groups.
Stigma and discrimination hinders prevention interventions by
fostering ignorance about facts on HIV.
HIV/AIDS-related stigma discourages people to get tested or when
they get tested, from returning for their test results.
Some avoid clinics known to be testing for HIV.
Others believe that the fact that they have been tested it will
eventually reach the rest of the community.
Self-stigmatisation leads one to police his/her behaviour hence
withdrawing from community and available services.
The fear of being stigmatised results in women, men and young
people being unable to look after their sexual and reproductive
health accessing sexual health information, treatment and
methods for HIV and STI prevention, such as the female condom.
Some infected individuals may choose not to change or adapt their
behaviour to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission for fear
that such a change would arouse suspicion and stigma.
Stigma by health-care providers APOs, nurses, doctors impacts
on access to treatment in health centres and hospitals.
Some medical workers, in an attempt to avoid having contact with
people living with HIV/AIDS or provide care, pass patient from one
hospital to another.
Stigma and discrimination has made the medical management of HIV
and AIDS very stressful despite efforts to create more awareness.
Social stigmatisation of the disease frustrates efforts to apply
the most effective medical interventions in the management of HIV
and AIDS, ie, counselling, testing and treatment.
It causes individuals to shy away from tests hence treatment is
delayed or not received at all.
Delayed treatment can contribute to the continued spread of
disease because people do not know their status.
As a New Year gift to our affected and infected brothers, sisters,
wantoks, mothers, fathers, let us make a commitment to say NO to
stigma and discrimination to people living with HIV and AIDS.
*The writers work with VSO Tokaut AIDS
project in Madang.
 
|
