Youth living with HIV/AIDS in Kwara decry stigmatisation

Youth living with HIV /AIDS in Kwara State have called on the state government to save them from the current stigmatization and discrimination they face in the society.Speaking during a one-day workshop on the 'Youths Living Positive', organised by the Kwara State AIDS Control Agency (KWASACA), the coordinator of youths in the state, Mallam AbdulRaheem Olayinka, said the discrimination had reached an alarming stage to the extent that their children were refused admission in schools by concerned authorities.According to him, this stigmatisation was not limited to school admission problem of their children alone, but that they also suffered the same fate in hospitals where the nurses refused to care for them and denied them better treatment, especially during pregnancy, prenatal and postnatal cares.He further explained that the nurses instead of giving them better treatment like others who are negative, neglected them and even felt reluctant to care for them during labour pains and after deliveries.Olayinka also urged the government to educate the doctors and nurses in hospitals to always show love to them wherever they needed their services.Responding, the KWASACA Project Manager, Dr Johnson Oyeniyi, urged them not to lose hope, saying the present administration was concerned about their welfare.Dr Oyeniyi explained that the government would not relent in its effort to give them relevant assistance and information on what they needed to do in order to remain healthy.He said the motive of the workshop was to educate them on what they needed to know to remain alive for as long as they are battle ready to fight any case of discrimination against them.Oyeniyi, however, called on youths to always practice safe sex by using condom with a new partner or abstain from sexual intercourse altogether.
Click here to read full news..