The present study determines the impact of Stigma and
Discrimination amongst People Living with HIV and their Adherence to Medication
in North Central Nigeria. Stigma has been and will continue to be one of the
factors influencing the prevention and treatment of some diseases in the health
sector if adequate measures are not taken to address it. In spite of the
identification of stigma as a factor impeding public utilisation of HIV
counselling, testing, and treatment services in Nigeria, gaps still exist in
knowledge on the impact of stigma, and discrimination on adherence to
medication and outcomes amongst people living with HIV (PLWH). It has been
observed that even healthcare workers isolate HIV/AIDS patients from other
ones, refuse to admit them to the hospital, wear extra cloves when examining
them, and charge very high fees for care. This study adopted mixed methods to
examine the impact of stigma and discrimination on adherence to medication
amongst PLWH in Nigeria. A sample of 1,621 respondents was collected using
multi-stage and purposive sampling methods. Structured interviews using
questionnaires and in-depth interviews (using a guide) were utilised for data
collection. SPSS (version 21) was used for quantitative data analysis while the
qualitative data was analysed thematically. There are 46.3% men and 53.7% women
respondents. Generally, their income is low, 70.7% are earning less than
N25,000 (approximately $125 USD) per month. Some of the HIV patients are
stigmatised. In reaction, they avoid public places, and travel long distances
away from their immediate community to collect drugs and to avoid being noticed
around the centers. They sometimes miss taking drugs regularly as prescribed,
suffer depression and die. Those who are alive continue to suffer social
exclusion within the communities. Stigma and discrimination impede adherence to
medication amongst PLHW in Nigeria. More efforts should be made to create
awareness to reduce the stigma and discrimination of HIV patients while
augmenting their income to meet up with the challenges of adherence to
medication and social acceptability. Policies addressing discrimination of PLWH
in the family, marriage and employment domains would be of great help. The
overall benefits would be enhanced mechanisms of HIV prevention, treatment and
control in the study area.
Author(s) Details
Godwin Aondohemba
Timiun
Department of Sociology, Benue State University, Makurdi,
Benue State, Nigeria and Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.
Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/mria/v9/205
No comments:
Post a Comment