Stigma causes spread of HIV

By Jane Akinyi and Maseme Machuka

Some Aids patients are intentionally spreading the disease due to stigmatisation.

An NGO working in Nyanza says, as a result, cases of infection had almost doubled, putting the province at the top with a prevalence rate of 15.8 per cent.

"There is still a lot of finger pointing in the community hence the infected want to revenge for being disgraced and viewed as immoral," said Ms Mary Jane Musungu, community care advisor of the Aids Population & Health-Integrated Assistance programme (APHIA II).

Marginalised

The stigma is deeply rooted in Kuria and Kisii areas, which she noted had been marginalised in HIV/ Aids sensitisation and intervention programmes.

"The communities have missed out on several programmes as most are focused on Luo Nyanza," she said.

She added: "Residents in the remote areas of the mentioned towns, however, still view it as a curse out of ignorance, hence the stigma."

Musungu said if residents learnt to embrace the infected, the spread arising from vengeance could be reduced.

"If these people are shown love, care and support they wouldn’t do such a thing," she said.

Wife inheritance

She noted that continued wife inheritance and early girl-child marriages impeded the battle against the disease through new infections daily.

She was speaking during a press briefing at a Kisumu hotel.

Elsewhere, people living with HIV/Aids have been urged to speak out on critical issues affecting them to help in the fight against the disease.

USAID/Health Policy Initiative Regional Director Angeline Siparo has called on the affected to stand up and voice their concerns.

Unchecked silence

Speaking at a workshop for organisations for people living with HIV/Aids at the Sportsview Hotel, Kasarani, she said the silence of positive people posed a serious threat, which if unchecked, could wipe out many lives.

"There are HIV positive people who fought for treatment in the mid- 90s. Because these people spoke out, we now have ARVs. This does not mean we should take things for granted," she said.

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