Managing HIV/AIDS Among Females in Nigerian Law School By Marshall Ifeanyi
Various forms of activities by different
organizations in the private and public sectors took place in different
quarters of the country to mark this year’s World AIDS Day tagged “Stop
AIDS, Keep the Promise”. Of particular interest was the seminar on fight
against HIV / AIDS with a special focus on women and children as well as
physically challenged people living with the virus at the Nigerian Law
School, Bwari, Abuja. The World AIDS Day was established in 1998 by WHO
to focus global attention on HIV AND AIDS. It expresses belief that the
campaign could significantly help to accomplish the important task of
promoting access to HIV treatment with a view to arresting the epidemic.
It is necessary to recall here that the
HIV pandemic in Nigeria started in the 1980s with the first AIDS case
reported in 1986. Nigeria is currently experiencing a generalized
epidemic with states’ HIV prevalence persistently above 1% in women
attending antenatal clinics. About 40million people in the world are
living with the Human Immune Acquired Deficiency Syndrome Virus–HIV.
About four million people are estimated to be living with it in Nigeria.
The figure increases by the day.
To strengthen the response to the
epidemic, the Presidential Council on AIDS as well as the National,
State, and FCT Action Committee(s) on AIDS (NACA, SACA, and FACA) were
established in 2000. The bodies have facilitated a co-coordinated
response through provision of comprehensive prevention and care services
within the context of the HIV/AIDS Emergency Action Plan (HEAP),
HIV/AIDS Health Sector Plan and National Strategic Framework (NSDF).
A survey in 2005 was carried out to
determine HIV prevalence among females among others. The prevalence
among women 15-49 years and young women 15-24 years is on the decline.
However, there seems to be an upward trend of feminization of the
disease. For instance, the more than 900 students of the Nigerian Law
School, Bwari, Abuja, who gathered at the main auditorium of the school
in the one-day programme to create awareness on the disease among
students and staff were not happy because Phenodom (the rubber sheet
worn by females for protection against HIV/AIDS during sexual
intercourse) was not distributed to them the same way condom was
distributed.
According to the technical partner to
Jeolinks Global Services, organizer of the seminar in collaboration with
the FCT Action Committee on AIDS and the Nigerian Law School, Dr Orduwa
Eze Samuel, the inadequacy was due to the high cost of the purchase of
the female condoms and not meant to deliberately discriminate against
women stating that condoms may go as low as N10 while that of women (phenodom)
may cost as high as N500. He however stressed that efforts were being
made by government to bring down the price in order to make it
affordable.
Dr Orduwa noted that, the AIDS pandemic is
growing in all areas of the country with worrisome signs of resurgence
in some states where successes in combating the disease were thought to
have been achieved. He observed that the prevalence of HIV among youths
is highest among some middle-belt and south-south states such as Benue
and Akwa-Ibom States as well as their adjoining States.
In his view, FCT is among the first five
states with high prevalence coming only after Enugu and Anambra States.
He therefore urged the Law School students to avail themselves of the
opportunity to be adequately informed so as to become change agents in
passing the message to “Stop AIDS and Keep the Promise”.
The Director General of Nigerian Law
School Bwari, Dr. Tahir Mamman, in his remarks, expressed support for
the initiative by Jeolinks Global Services and Dr. Orduwa the organizers
of the seminar. He commended them for the opportunity to enlighten the
staff and students of the institution on the dreaded disease HIV/AIDS.
The DG also appreciated the information and statistics revealed at the
Seminar saying that since prevalence cases are higher among females
between ages 15-49 the occasion calls for sober reflection, more
positive action and change of attitude in the way the students live
their lives .
The highpoint of the event was the lecture
on positive living by Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Labor and
Productivity who is also a Consultant to UNDP, Mr. Paul Okwulehie. He
urged the Law School students to be mindful of cases of incidence and
reduce concentration on prevalence saying that if the students are
negative, they have no business being infected at all.
The observance of World AIDS Day in the
Nigerian Law School will have a special meaning for Mrs. Linda Omeka,
Co-ordinator, Organization for Positive Living, an NGO for PLWHA. Mrs.
Omeka was a resource person who gave testimony to the fact one can still
live a fulfilling live though that one may test positive to the virus.
She talked on Positive Living and even brought her healthy
daughter of about 2 years for everyone to see. When asked how she was
able to do it, she advised that the students should avail themselves of
the Voluntary Counseling Test (VCT) because it allows newly infected
persons to enter into clinical care. She urged that people should not
avoid or ignore VCT due to fear of the outcome of the test and
stigmatization for testing positive. The lady who got married after she
had long contracted the virus said that living with HIV does not mean a
person is a victim; rather the person needs care, support and love. Mrs.
Omeka lives with her husband and daughter who are both negative.
The seminar also showcased drama
presentation, stand-up comedy and poem recitation by the HIV Committee
of the school constituted to act as catalyst to the campaign and reduce
the incidence of the dreaded disease in the Campus. At the end,
participants at the seminar agreed that the current care and support
activities especially the antiretroviral programme and distribution of
condoms should be scaled up while the distribution of the female latex –
Phenodom – be commenced to meet the increasing needs of the large number
of estimated cases of AIDS in the country.
There is also the need to increase
intervention efforts in the rural areas. The high level of prevalence
among women and children calls for focused and appropriated
interventions.
Marshall Ifeanyi
National Press Centre, Abuja, December
2006
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