THE HIV/AIDS pandemic has indeed taken its toll on the world at large and it is no surprise that every year, huge amounts of resources are budgeted for its management and containment. With an estimated 1.8 million people dying from the dreaded disease and over one billion people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, the disease has become the major priority in most nations across the world. Different organisations and agencies have been set up to help spread the information about HIV/AIDS contraction and prevention in the hope that through this, its spread would be brought to the barest minimum.In recent times, there have been widespread calls for HIV screening for every living being so as to facilitate early detection and control, and individuals have been increasingly encouraged to take the test/screening. However, it is interesting to note that a trend has become the order of the day; the apparent phobia for HIV screening by men. From a survey of close to a hundred men, who were interviewed about this trend, a majority of them said that they had a second thought about taking the tests at their first screening.Dr Wale Adebisi, a staff at one of the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) centre at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, hinted that many men indeed feared to know about their true HIV status because of the fear of the unknown adding that there was no real reason for the phobia."It has been discovered that men have no real reason for shying away from being tested. And the reasons are sometimes crazy. For some, it might be because they are avoiding a situation whereby they may be seen around the HIV testing centres while others fear that they might be stigmatised if found to be positive. For those who, perhaps, had led a carefree life in the past or at present, they normally resist any attempt to get them to take the test until something happens to them healthwise. These people live in constant denial except they experience a health challenge.'What we try to let people know is that being diagnosed with HIV is not necessarily a death sentence nor something that you have to cope with on your own.Also, being anxious and fearful of having HIV and all that it entails is very natural. However, one must be careful not to live in self denial and ultimately shy away from taking the test once every six months", he said.Soji Adetayo, a banker, said that he would rather die than be tested. Saidhe,"I am a socially-conscious person but I know my limits. I am educated and I believe that going for tests repeatedly suggests that one is actually suspecting oneself. I have over the years, set boundaries for myself and so I know that I have limited my predisposition to its contraction.Claiming that his denial was not linked to fear, Mr Adetayo stressed that he only chose to live that way because his forefathers lived that that way.Peter Okwukogu, a member of the National Youth Service Corps, revealed that many men fear to go to the HIV testing centres because of the wayward lives they might be living."Many men know about the dangers of illicit sex but do not heed its message. They prefer to philander, hoping that they get lucky with each escapade. These men would naturally shy away from any form of HIV testing in their insane belief in the god of luck. Their bloated egos would push them to run after anything in skirt, but stop them from admitting their mistakes and try to save their lives, at least what is left of it, by taking a simple test.
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