Summary of Stigma of People with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa

HIV/AIDS people or patients face several problems, among of which are stigma and discrimination. They do not only face medical problems but they also encounter some social problems associated with their disease. Most of the people discriminate and stigmatize people who have HIV/AIDS; they do not want to socialize with such people. People with HIV/AIDS differ from one another, as some receive support which positively affects them whereas some are often affected negatively as a result of their status after tested positively. HIV/AIDS stigma negatively affects seeking HIV testing, seeking care after diagnosis, quality of care given to HIV patients, and even the negative perception and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS by their communities and families, including their partners. The stigma attached to HIV/AIDS people isolates them from the community and it affects their quality of life.  

In everywhere HIV/AIDS has been accompanied by stigma and discrimination but stigma in Sub-Saharan Africa seems to be particularly common. Currently there are an increasing number of researches on stigma attached to HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has been increasingly acknowledged that effective treatment and care strategies require an understanding of the cultural context in which stigma exists. The Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region in the world. A total of 64 articles were selected and twenty of these articles were theoretical papers, review papers and articles on stigma but were not limited to any geographical location while 45 articles were empirical studies from Sub-Saharan Africa. 45 articles from empirical studies within Sub-Saharan Africa were used for the analysis of the contributing factors to HIV/AIDS stigma. Stigma is used to set the affected persons or groups of affected people aside, apart from the normal social order, that is to say it usually means (‘us’ against ‘them’). This separation also implies devaluation of HIV/AIDS people. Some of the factors that seem to mediate stigma include cultural constructions, stereotypes and specific beliefs, access to and the role of antiretroviral therapy, religion and gender. Studies have shown that many Sub - Saharan Africans are reluctant to disclose their HIV status even when they have already gone for voluntary counseling and testing. Other problem faced by people living with HIV/AIDS is that combinations of health-seeking strategies make it difficult to know the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs. Many people living with HIV/AIDS stop taking antiretroviral drugs when the symptoms are gone and resort to traditional medications.

Gender inequality is one of the factors which mainly influence women’s inability to protect themselves because in other societies; traditionally a woman is expected to bear children. Bearing children would mean not protecting themselves from contracting HIV/AIDS. Some societies are more intolerant of females living with HIV/AIDS than of their male counterparts. Some men and women never disclose their HIV status to their partners because they fear stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and also divorce especially married couples. Studies have shown that women who often open up to their partners and share with them about their HIV results experience physical violence, abandonment which may lead to divorce and accusations that they have not been faithful.

Though the majority of the studies carried out shows female stigmatization, some studies showed that men were more likely than women never to have discussed AIDS with friends, more likely to have been treated differently since testing, more likely to report experiencing internalized stigma, and more likely to have suffered loss of a place to stay or job owing to AIDS. People living with HIV/AIDS face stigma throughout their lifetime because some people still do not know much about HIV/AIDS, they only think it is transmitted in one way (sexually) which is not true. Stigma prevents HIV patients from getting the medication that they need effectively and from socializing with other members of the community. I personally think it is high time we start accepting people living with HIV/AIDS, treating them as we treat our friends. If we cannot treat them as humans who have equal rights as us, nobody will ever treat them that way, they will even suffer more. It is high time we support people living with HIV/AIDS, showing them that we love them as they are and that they are part of our societies, they are also important. That way people living with HIV will open up, they will feel accepted in the society they live in; we will also be able to understand HIV/AIDS better. After all a friend in need is a friend indeed, a friend with HIV/AIDS is still a friend, we are all humans. Nations should also teach their people about HIV/AIDS because most people lack knowledge about this epidemic disease.

By: Ookame


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