None Of My children Have HIV – NEPWAN Chairman (Yobe)

I have nine children born after contracting the virus.

The Chairman, People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWAN) Yobe State Chapter Alh. Ali Damaturu has disclosed that out of his 24 children, none of them is HIV positive.

Alh. Ali Damaturu who spoke exclusively with The Nation in Damaturu, the Yobe State Capital informed that out of the 24 children, nine of them were born after he contracted the virus but none of them has the virus because he and his three wives take their medication very seriously.

“I use to tell people that, it is a matter of choice if you want to die of HIV/AIDS at this time because we have gone passed the period that the illness was killing people because of lack of knowledge, shame and even medication.

“Today, HIV/AIDs is like malaria. It can be overcome because there are several ways you can manage it and live your life normal without any problem. Look, let me tell you, I have 24 children and three wives. I and my wives are all infected with the virus but none of my children is HIV positive. We follow the counselling and take our drugs as and when due. We eat good food. I don’t joke with taking my drugs and my wives know that too. Look at us, we are happy. Out of these 24 children, nine were born after I got the virus but no single one of them is positive,” Ali explained.

One of the biggest challenges facing his members is the issue of stigma and neglect from family members especially from the northern part of Yobe State.

“We are facing a lot of problem with our members. The most serious problem is the issue of stigmatisation of our members. This is happening mostly from the northern part of Yobe State. I must say that the awareness has increased especially from Damaturu down to Potiskum and some other parts of the state but our members are still suffering in areas like Nguru, Yusufari, Machina and so. We only hope that the situation improves with the passage of the Anti-Stigmatization bill into law by the Yobe State House of Assembly.

The Yobe NEPWAN Chairman regretted the withdrawal of donor agencies in the funding of HIV/AIDS issue but however praised the Yobe State Government for her continuous support in the project.

“We are not happy that funding from foreign partners has dropped while others have completely withdrawn. But I must commend Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam his ceaseless support for the program. Through this period, we have never had any cause in the break of supply of drugs to our members. The drugs have been constant and we are grateful to the governor for his commitment towards us.

“We are therefore calling on the law enforcement for the full implementation of the anti-stigmatization law in the state so that people will begin to bear the brunt of the consequences of their actions towards our members. Our people need care, not neglect. Sometimes it is even the attitude of the society that kills our members instead of the virus,” Ali said.

Alh. Ali regretted that many of their members in the state have died due to family rejection, stigmatisation and neglect while calling on Yobe State government to seriously prosecute such people as a deterrent to others.

“I feel so sad that many of my members have died because they were neglected by their families, or rejected and stigmatised. There are some that we discovered and took over their cases and they have become part of our family. One thing that must happen is that government must set an example against some of these attitudes so that people can be afraid of maltreating our people. This has to stop,” Ali warned.

One of Ali’s wives, Falmata said their family is one of the happiest and that their husband is very serious when it comes to them adhering to medication.

“We are happy with our lives. Thank God for our husband for his knowledge of the management of the virus. From the beginning, it was not easy for us but now we have overcome every challenge. You can see that because of our knowledge of the management of the virus, none of our children is positive with the virus and we thank God. Our husband doesn’t joke about the drugs that we take. He takes it very seriously and we understand that. As we can see, we are living healthier than some people that are even negative,” Falmata said.

She also collaborated with her husband on the issue of stigma but added that more awareness is being created by their members particularly during naming and marriage ceremonies, adding that, “more women are now free to discuss issues of HIV/AIDS than in the past”.