|
Stigmatization of Children Orphaned Due to HIV/AIDS By Dr. A.D.Dawud The
burden HIV implicates on people cannot be overemphasized. Parents that
become infected do struggle to support their lives with possible
therapy, be it by enrolment into the subsidized anti-retroviral trail (ARVT)
or self sponsored costly anti-viral agents. The morbidity and subsequent
mortality that accompanied this ailment is not only of concern to the
family of the victims but also to the neighbours, community, local
government, state, and the nation. Hitherto, most of these patients do
not adhere to counseling modalities. This stubborn negligence is
compounding the wholistic management of HIV patients. For
one thing, the psychological impact can be even more intense than for
children whose parents die from more sudden causes, such as in armed
conflict or as a result of an accident. HIV ultimately makes people ill
but it runs an unpredictable course. There are typically months or years
of stress, suffering or depression before a parent dies. And in
developing countries, where the epidemic is concentrated, effective pain
or symptom relief is often unavailable to alleviate a parent's
suffering. The
children's distress is often compounded by the prejudice and social
exclusion directed at individuals with HIV and their families. This
stigma may translate into denial of access to schooling, health care and
of the inheritance rights of orphaned children. In this respect, girls
may be at a further disadvantage. A
final cruel difference from other parental diseases is that HIV is
likely to have spread sexually between the father and mother. Thus the
child's chances of losing a second parent relatively quickly are far
higher than, say, those of a child who has lost a parent to a disease
that is not communicable to the partner. These
uniquely painful features of parental HIV/AIDS are of course of deep
concern to the adults themselves. For HIV-positive mothers and father,
making provision for their families is a main priority when they learn
that they are infected. "My biggest fear was what was going to
happen to the children", says Major Ruranga Rubamira, a major in
the Ugandan army and the founder of the Ugandan National Association of
People Living with HIV/AIDS. "I didn't know how long I was going to
live and I still felt that within the time left I must try to do
something. I tried to start some kind of business for my wife and I
tried also to put up a house." It is
therefore evident that the impact of HIV/AIDS on the socio-economic
situation of our country is enormous. It is also obvious that large
numbers of children are losing their parents at tender ages and before
completing school. This phenomenon has resulted in a situation whereby
the elderly, who are supposed to be supported by extended family
systems, are now becoming the ones to take care of their grand-children,
the AIDS orphans, with their very weak capacity to shoulder such a heavy
burden. Accordingly,
what has been reiterated by so many is absolutely correct, that This
article is also expected to probe into the type of leadership required
for success in the fight against the scourge that goes far beyond the
political level, and to review the extent of cooperation that may be
required between government, civil society, the private sector and the
international donor agents. Our joint
effort to spearhead the fight against HIV/AIDS should enable us to agree
on broad strategies for tackling the challenge, and should encourage our
development partners to scale up their interventions and to positively
impact on our national development efforts. Needless to
say, the profound disruption of our societies due to impoverishment,
austerity and conflict has helped create the conditions in which the
virus can thrive. It is in conditions of migration, disruption of
families, mass displacement and civil war that HIV/AIDS has taken hold,
and is devastating the very fabric of our societies. Thanks to
our culture of communal life, we have, so far, not completely lost
momentum to take care of people living with HIV/AIDS. However, this does
not mean that our efforts to take care of HIV/AIDS victims have not been
challenged from an increasingly emerging problem of exclusion and
stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS. This emerging problem of
exclusion should not be left to prevail upon our culture of communal
life. In this regard, the role of religious leaders and civil society
can make a big difference by way of changing the way people think and
act in relation to people living with HIV/AIDS. Thus,
leaders have the responsibility to ensure that there is a collective
effort to respond sufficiently to the needs of people infected and
communities affected by HIV/AIDS. However, there is no gainsaying that
the problem demands the collective responsibility of all. If, on the
other hand, we do not work together, if we fail to collaborate in
looking for remedies, AIDS in Discrimination
in accessing health care is a major form of social exclusion faced by
orphans. About two-thirds of children born to HIV-positive mothers do
not contract the infection and grow up to be as healthy as any other
child in the community. However, this fact is often unknown or ignored.
Evidence suggests that AIDS orphans may be at greater risk of dying of
preventable diseases and infections because of the mistaken belief that
when they become ill it must be due to AIDS and therefore there is no
point in seeking medical help. Way
Forward: The problems faced by AIDS-affected
families have become a major priority for many national aid programs, as
well as for international organizations such as UNICEF, and the Save the
Children Fund. There are thousands of small community-based schemes
around the world that aim to provide care and support to children
orphaned by AIDS. In But
such projects are not being carried out on the scale that is required.
Most orphan programs can only help fewer than a hundred children at one
time. In countries like Finance
is an important consideration. Many orphan programs rely on funding from
non-governmental organizations based in economically affluent countries
and UN agencies, and are seldom self-sustaining. Investment in these
orphaned children is necessary for a stable future, both for the
children themselves and for their communities. But in the world's
poorest countries, children orphaned by AIDS may be seen as only one of
many competing urgent priorities. Despite
a widespread belief that orphans are well-served by AIDS care
organizations, there is a growing realization that such care is
inadequate and that children orphaned by AIDS are in reality often a
neglected group. Furthermore,
the government of The policy
identifies eight priorities; social and economic security, food security
and nutrition. Others are
care and support, mitigating the impact of conflict, access to
education, psychosocial support, health and protection against abuse,
neglect, exploitation and violence. Many
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are also supplementing the
government’s efforts to help children orphaned by AIDS. Problems
for children affected by AIDS are most acute from the time that HIV is
diagnosed in a parent. If organizations wait until children become
orphans, it is almost too late. Before the massacres in In
1994, representatives from NGOs throughout southern and east The
declaration also recognized that families affected by HIV are vulnerable
to exploitation and recommended that NGOs inform people affected by HIV
of their legal rights, and that governments revise existing laws to
further protect these individuals. Orphanages
should only be considered as a last resort in providing care to those
orphaned by AIDS, according to experts. Dr Eric Chevallier of AIDES Médicale
Internationale argues: "Orphanages are far more expensive than
community-based approaches and they can be culturally inappropriate if
they cut children off from their social origins. The link between
generations is very important," he emphasizes. Orphanages
may be more successful in countries where they have been more commonly
used in the past, such as in Institutional
care has many limitations, as it usually cannot provide children with an
ongoing, trusting relationship with a specific adult primary caregiver.
Furthermore, institutionalization has proved to have adverse effects on
people once they try to reintegrate into their communities, as they tend
to lack support networks and the skills to develop them.
Institutionalized care has also been found to nurture dependency and to
work against self-reliance. It
is therefore, imperative for public health workers to expand their
approach with the aim of allowing communities accommodating these
orphans. Nigerian government should start vigorous programmes similar to
what other African countries are doing to curb this menace. Experience,
is the best teacher! The Legislature, Ministers of Health, Youth And
Sports as well as Minister of intergovernmental Affairs, youth
development and special duties to as a matter of urgency develop and
finance policy that will address this orphans before a devastating
phenomenon of this neglect overshadow us. WRITEN
BY: DR. A.D DAWUD BIOPREVENT
CONSULT E-MAIL:
biopreventmails@yahoo.com
|