The Culture of Stigmatization Toward PLWHA in Nigeria

The Culture of Stigmatization Toward PLWHA in Nigeria
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The Culture of Stigmatization Toward PLWHA in Nigeria
Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a primary public health issue in Nigeria. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) encounter social and personal problems such as discriminatory attitudes and stigmatization. In most cases, PLWHA are isolated by other individuals in society, which affect their quality of lives adversely. Despite the presence of anti-retroviral treatment, these people face isolation and condemnation from friends, relatives, and community members around them due to their HIV status. Some of the health problems associated with stigmatization and discrimination are identity crises, low self-esteem, loneliness, the failure of participation in HIV testing exercises, and the lack of motivation to practice preventive measures. If PLWHA are showed compassion by those living with them, they are likely to embrace protective prevention measures and be cautious about their sexual behaviors. The culture of discrimination and stigmatization of PLWHA is more widespread in Nigeria due to the issues of the poor ethical and legal framework that influence the weak healthcare system in the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines public health informatics (PHI) as the methodical application of technology, data, and computer science to public health practice, learning, and research (CDC, 2018). Some of the primary components of PHI are health promotion, disease prevention, preparedness, and surveillance. PHIs address technological and information problems from affected individuals’ perspectives. Informatics is crucial since it facilitates the conversion of raw data into useful information. Moreover, information is a vital resource in work involving public health since it enables specialists to analyze an infectious or chronic disease. Although health practitioners might require information to understand a particular illness, it might be challenging for them to interpret it. For this reason, PHI offers the translation service where they present the available information to health specialists in a manner that they can comprehend it entirely and make relevant medical decisions (Aziz, 2017). When it comes to the application of PHI in my topic of the culture of stigmatization in Nigeria, it is clear that informatics plays a vital role in identifying and address the problems that PLWHA encounters in their daily lives. For example, the population of PLWHA in Nigeria is approximately 3.8 million. Despite the intervention by the United Nations (UN), the rate of deaths and infections related to HIV/AIDS is high in West Africa. Due to the use of PHI, the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) decreased the infections by forty percent and deaths emanating from AIDS by forty-two percent. The United Nations Program dealing with HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has a vision of zero discrimination, zero AIDS-associated deaths, and zero HIV infections (Odimegwu, Akinyemi, & Alabi, 2017). Without informatics, it would be hard for this international organization to determine whether it is working in the right direction. Consequently, the application of PHI makes it possible for health providers to gather and interpret data about a particular problem affecting people and implement the most appropriate solution.
The culture of stigmatization and discrimination against PLWHA is one of the primary barriers that hinder the elimination of HIV/AIDS in West Africa. In the planning phase, the researcher searched for the most appropriate and credible sources by using various keywords, such as HIV infections in Nigeria, PLWHA in Nigeria, and the stigmatization of HIV positive Nigerians (Monjok, Smesny, & Essien, 2009). Notably, planning before undertaking a particular study is crucial since it enables an individual to know the depth of research and to focus on primary arguments. Without it, a person can easily sway away from the primary topic of discussion. Most importantly, the researcher comes up with a framework or outline that guides him or her throughout the study. Regulatory decision-making enables one to comply with various rules, such as confidentiality, formatting, and referencing. In other words, these are things that make a research paper comprehensive, informative, and meaningful. The researcher should always come up with an article that non-experts can understand easily. For instance, the 2015 UNAIDS guideline defines stigma as the attitudes or beliefs that make an individual or community be considered discreditable or unworthy. Stigma causes discrimination that arises when any form of restriction, exclusion, or distinction is directed to a person based on their personal characteristic or attribute (Odimegwu, Alabi, Wet, & Akinyemi, 2018). The culture of stigmatization in Nigeria makes PLWHA to be treated unjustly and unfairly by others. Discrimination and stigma are primary obstacles to the success of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. When it comes to HIV preventive measures, society must work in close collaboration with PLWHA and encourage them to adopt good sexual behaviors to avoid spreading the disease. However, this step starts by showing respect to individuals living with HIV/AIDS so that they can feel important and loved. As such, they value themselves and would do anything to prolong their lives. At this juncture, they visit hospitals to be tested for HIV and undertake the treatment as advised by doctors. Consequently, PLWHA in Nigeria need affection for them to embrace prevention measures and adopt proper sexual behaviors.
The culture of stigmatization is the main obstacle to successful efforts in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and the disease epidemiology in Nigeria. According to a 2019 report by UNAIDS, about 1.9 million individuals had HIV/AIDS in 2018. The prevalence of the illness was 1.5% for people aged from 15-49 years. In the same year, there were around 130,000 new infections of HIV and 53,000 deaths associated with this deadly disease (Avert, 2019). Approximately 35% and 55% of children and adults were on antiretroviral treatment. Stigmatization makes the majority of HIV positive individuals to hide their HIV statuses. These people do not want society to know that they have HIV to avoid discrimination. For this reason, they do not seek medical intervention to prevent the spread of the disease. HIV prevention programs have failed in Nigeria, and that is the reason why it is challenging to overcome the AIDS epidemic in the country. Some of the common prevention measures include the use of contraceptives, such as condoms, HIV education, the prevention of transmission from mother-to-child, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The HIV/AIDS epidemiology in Nigeria portrays that it is not easy to contain the illness. For example, the 2018 report from UNAIDS shows that new infection rates for children, adolescents, and adults stood at 36,000, 28,000, and 170,000, respectively (Avert, 2019). The primary factor that contributes to the faster spread of the disease is the culture of stigmatization. On that note, many HIV positive people who do not know their statuses engage in risky sexual behaviors that make other individuals prone to contracting the disease. For instance, they engage in sexual intercourse without using condoms or PrEP. That is the reason why the rate of HIV spread in Nigeria is high since the majority of people do not want to be tested due to the fear of being discriminated against or isolated by society if they are HIV positive.
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