08 Oct Nigeria: HIV/Aids Discrimination Cases On the Rise
The National Human Rights Commission yesterday said cases of stigmatization and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS at their places of work is presently on the rise, adding that the commission has so received an estimate of 40 to 50 cases, which is being looked into.
A director in the commission, Abdulrahman Yakubu, who made this known yesterday during a meeting with an ECOWAS team to analyze the status of the existing laws on HIV/AIDS and their application in ECOWAS member states, noted that they have been working in collaboration with NACA, who have so far reported a bulk of the complaints. He said others complaints come from the network of HIV positive persons in the society.
According to him these persons had their rights violated when they were subjected to various tests including HIV/AIDS without first being consulted and later those results were used as a tool to discriminate against them.
He called for accessibility and affordability of the Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) for HIV positive persons, in order to reduce the HIV scourge.
Earlier, NACA Director General Prof John Idoko lamented that issues of discrimination and stigmatization were obstacles in the agency’s fight to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS.