It
is no longer news that Nigeria has the 3rd largest population of
HIV/AIDS infected people in the world after India and South Africa. At the
moment, it is estimated that 5.8% of the total population of 120 million people
are those living with HIV/AIDS.
The
Nigerian government and various non-governmental organisations have made
efforts to reduce the spread of the virus and discourage discrimination of
infected individuals through public enlightenment campaigns, media
advertisement, procurement and subsidence of antiretroviral drugs, and so on.
However, the efforts of the Nigerian government and these non-governmental
organisations have been confronted by a number of challenges including: -
a. Carelessness and unethical practices of Nigerian health care
providers: The
health care system of any country is a key player in the reduction of the
spread of HIV/AIDS through proper patient – education, procurement and even
distribution of antiretrovirals throughout the country. In Nigeria,
however, a lot of health care providers and medical practitioners are careless,
carrying out surgical procedures without proper sterilization of surgical
equipment and transfusing unscreened blood to patients, putting them at risk of
contracting this dreaded virus. An incident which turned into a very big
scandal occurred in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). It was the
case of baby Eniola, who had anaemia and needed immediate blood transfusion. The
father of the baby donated his blood which was screened properly and discovered
to be compatible with that of the baby. This blood was never transfused to the
baby, instead some other unscreened blood was taken from the blood bank and
transfused into the baby. The baby became sick again and was later found to be
HIV positive. The scandal resulted in the sack of the Chief Medical Director
and the entire staff of the haematological department of the hospital, but the
harm had already been done. Baby Eniola was robbed of a life she was barely
beginning to understand.
b. Cultural Factors: People have stubbornly refused to use preventive
measures like condoms, which are seen as taboos in many areas of the country,
some people find condoms totally unacceptable, claiming that condoms make
intercourse less enjoyable. Public enlightenment campaigns have been seen by
many as being doctored by the government in a bid to discourage population
explosion since she cannot cater for the entirety of the Nigerian population as
60% of this population still live below the poverty line.
c. Discrimination of HIV/AIDS
infected people: This has discouraged people from getting themselves tested and knowing
their HIV status. Very few people who test positive agree to come public to discourage
the spread of the scourge and discrimination of infected people. Most of those
who agree to come public do that either with covered faces or with their backs
to the screen for fear of being discriminated against.
The Catholic Church in Nigeria is not helping
issues. The church insists on knowing the HIV status of couples before marriage and refuses to marry HIV positive couples. This is very wrong and a lot of people
would go as far as forging results to get married in the church.
Efforts will continue to be made by the
government, private health care providers, non- governmental organisations and the
media to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and with time, the desired objectives will be
achieved.
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