Don't stigmatise AIDS infected folks call raised

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 15 : Even as the global fight against HIV-AIDS has been  making remarkable progress with millions of people living with the disease receiving life saving treatment, many people living with HIV/AIDS in Manipur continue to develop extremely poor self esteem and they are unwilling to come out and seek  help due to the stigma they experience.
It is reported that many people living with HIV/AIDS in Manipur are also oblivious of the different initiatives being taken up by the Government to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
As per a fact sheet published by National AIDS Control Society  (NACO) in 2023, the figure of  people living with HIV/AIDS in  Manipur was 24,472 but only about 14,200 of them are on ART medication till August 2024.
What is a cause of worry is that only 68 per cent of people living with HIV know their HIV status in Manipur when the figure should be at least 95 per cent as per NACO guidelines.
To join the global fight against HIV/AIDS, the HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act  2017 was passed and the legislation became effective from September 2018 throughout the country but stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS still happens in the State.
For Manipur, Dr Shasheekumar Mangang was appointed as Ombudsman of the HIV & AIDS (Prevention & Control) Act 2017 on November 18, 2021.
Speaking to The Sangai Express, Dr Sasheekumar said that many people living with HIV are unaware of the Central legislation which aims to protect and promote their rights.
He said that discriminating or mistreating people living with HIV is a punishable offence and the defaulters may be imposed a fine upto Rs 1 lakh or imprisoned for three months.
Stating that the majority of the complaints lodged with the State's Ombudsman pertain to disclosing the HIV status of the infected and discrimination, he added that most of the complainants are women.
Further stating that the Ombudsman was created to protect the rights of the people living with HIV/AIDS, Dr Sasheekumar appealed to all concerned to lodge a complaint to the Ombudsman if he/she is discriminated against.
People living with HIV/AIDS should not be mistreated under any circumstance, he said and reiterated that discriminating or mistreating people living with HIV/AIDS is a punishable offence.
There is no reason to stigmatise people living with HIV/AIDS, Dr Sasheekumar said and added that people living with HIV/AIDS, however, should not lodge unfounded or baseless complaints.
TP (not real name), an HIV-affected person,  said that people  living with HIV/AIDS are not criminals or murderers and as such there is no reason to  vilify them.
She also said that many people living with HIV/AIDS want to isolate themselves from society due to the stigma they face.
Saying that many HIV affected widows are living a very unpleasant life after their husbands died, she said that many of these women  have nowhere to go as they are not allowed to stay at their parents or husbands' places.
Pamei further said that awareness must be spread throughout the community to stop stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Double victimisation of people living with HIV/AIDS is wrong, she said and added that eliminating AIDS would remain a distant dream if the discrimination or stigmatization of the infected persons is not stopped.
Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) president RK Nalinikanta, on the other hand, said that a section of people indeed treat people living with HIV/AIDS with disdain and the same is not good for society.
Saying that there are also people who work to protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS too, Nalinikanta said that ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic won't be possible without taking the infected persons on board. Nalinikant also cautioned that the situation would be catastrophic if more and more people stop reporting their ailment (AIDS) fearing social discrimination.
He also appealed to all concerned to take the benefit of the HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act to achieve the target set by the United Nations to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030.