allAfrica.com: Nigeria: People Living With HIV/Aids And Their Message (Page 1 of 1)

The priest announced there were people in the church to talk to the congregation on HIV/AIDS and we all watched as two young women came before the altar, and spoke at length on the causes, prevention, and care of the disease, in the process declaring they were people living with HIV/AIDS and mentioning different number of years in which they have lived with the virus. I couldn't help but commend inwardly the courage of these young ladies even though the trend of people publicly declaring they are HIV/AIDS positive is becoming a common sight these days. We see them on television and hear them on radio daily; we also come across them at workshops, seminars, shows, our religious centres, on the internet and even on the streets where some of them solicit for alms mentioning their status.

These people are of both sexes. Some are young, old and others even children. A decade earlier, it wasn't common to see anyone coming out to declare his status and twenty years before, it was unheard off and those who attempted it were treated like social pariahs from then on because of the ignorance about the disease which some see as a punishment for the most sinful individuals.

Most Nigerians have overcome the period of unbelief about the existence of the disease as even those in the rural areas are well informed about it and the level of stigmatisation associated with it has lessened a bit especially as they know now that there are other causes of the disease aside sex although stigmatization of these people stopping totally is still some journey ahead.

The congregation listened with rapt attention to them and even clapped as they ended their speech. However, it has been observed that the essence of these people braving the odds to come public and give the message is lost on their audience or better put does not have the desired impact on them. And so it has become more like a routine with more individuals coming out daily without a proportionate change in the lifestyle of many and a reversal from the status quo. The message of these people, the government, non governmental organizations, corporate bodies etc has three salient points which aside Status are the Preventive measures of abstinence, and Faithfulness. Other preventive measures from research have shown so many pitfalls that they cannot be compared to the aforementioned preventive measures and so are not emphasised like them.

These three issues of Status, Faithfulness, and Abstinence are our concern at The Home front because the weight of all problems arising rest on the family.

According to the Director of National AIDS Secretariat (NAS) Dr Brima Kargbo "The problem with abstinence as a means of HIV/AIDS prevention is found in the fact that many people are not willing to abstain from sex even at the risk of acquiring the disease. This is more in the case of young men and women who are more energetic and more prone to experimentation than the adult population who are somehow settled in their sex habits and are often very self regulatory in their behaviours."

He added that "The youths especially the adolescents who often get excited about sex throw caution overboard, taking risk in sexual behaviour that are detrimental to their health and are unhelpful in the prevention of HIV/AIDS".

Much as some may argue that abstinence among youths is not full proof prevention of HIV/AIDS because there are other ways of contracting the disease like mother to child, blood transfusion and accident for instance-where you allow the wounded part of your body to come in contact with the blood of the person you want to help, sex is the primary means of contracting the disease. Therefore, abstinence remains the best and most reliable way of preventing HIV/AIDS.

Abstinence to the youths is like singing a melodious tune which no one is ready to listen, parental education and religious preaching on it has never really recorded holistic success. How unfortunate too if the message of the youths already infected with the virus is also by passed because much as we see this messages daily many youths have never given the message of abstinence a second thought, that is why in our various high institutions the disease has become like a monster swallowing it's prey with sumptuous appetite. Even though some might say HIV doesn't kill, the life and future of a youth is better and brighter without the virus than with the virus.

The message for the married is faithfulness. Abstinence seems to be easier because it depends on one person and such a person will bear the brunt of his misdemeanour alone but marriage involves two or more persons and the benefits or pains is shared by all whether you are the one who invited the problem or not .

Around the globe, a woman's primary risk of HIV infection is often through sex with her husband. According to Mrs Ebbinah Corah, "The situation has gotten so bad today that some women cannot have unprotected sex with their husbands, militating against child bearing, happiness and trust in the home. In some families some spouses nurse the same fear for their partners as they would have for commercial sex workers.'

In the words of Nnenna Akpe, who runs an NGO for women and children infected with HIV/AIDS there are lot of women, whose lives have been turned to hell not just because of the virus alone but the sheer betrayal of their husbands. "Some of these women complain bitterly that they married their husbands as virgins, stayed faithful through their married years only to be given the gift of HIV/AIDS by their husbands. The worse cases is that some of these men on discovering they are positive hide it from their wives and start going for antiretroviral treatment leaving their wives to suffer until they have full blown AIDS. This is a double stab because while they live on, the women die and in some instances the men despite knowing their status go ahead to breed infected children instead of informing their families and taking necessary steps to protect mother and child. Cases abound where a man falls ill and dies only for his widows and orphans to discover months or years later what killed him when they start having the symptoms or test positive to the disease. They just don't battle to fend for themselves alone any more, they have to fight the disease which may have gone to a very advanced stage then leading to more avoidable deaths. If only they had been faithful or opened to their families no matter how devastating the revelation might be to them."

It is not men alone who have treated women this way. Women too engage in extra - marital affairs, though the percentage of men is higher than that of women and some men have tales of woes to tell concerning the disease and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases or problems which their wives' unfaithfulness brought to their homes

The whole journey firstly starts with knowing your Status. According to the National Library of Medicine Report people are reluctant to go for voluntary testing as diagnosis is seen as a death sentence leading to isolation and rejection. It is necessary to know one's status, it is the first step in the journey because just as the people living with HIV/AIDS emphasize, they are taking the pains to give the message as we can see in the words of the youths under the aegis of Youths Aids Coalition "is for people who are negative to guide their status jealously and those that are positive to live and cope well with it". Let's listen to their message and better still justify their efforts by listening and adhering.

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