Stop Stigmatisation Of People With HIV, O-SACA Boss Urges Residents

• Anthony Faji

The Osun State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (O-SACA) has appealed to residents of the state to stop the stigmatisation and discrimination against people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

The Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Dr. Adeniyi Oginni, made the appeal in an interview with OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday. 

Oginni noted that there was a need to address some factors causing stigmatisation against the HIV/AIDS patient in the society. 

The O-SACA boss who placed the prevalence of HIV in the state at 0.9 percent, said according to statistics, more than 50 percent of people living with the virus are on medications.

He noted that the agency’s goal was to ensure that anybody who tested positive started treatment immediately to curb the spread of the virus in the state. 

According to the medical expert, “The best way of preventing the spread of the virus in our society is for everybody to get tested to know their medical status.

“HIV/AIDs is not a death sentence, it is even better than diabetes, and hypertension because if you don’t take medicine for hypertension you will develop a stroke and die.  Those diseases can kill faster than HIV but people are ignorant.

“Those who have the virus need to also get enlisted and be on treatment until they are unable to affect anybody else.  

“The aim is for everyone affected and receiving treatment to get to zero level where it will not be significant enough to be transmitted to another person.”

Speaking further, Oginni said the state government and some partnering organizations have employed some models to ensure that the spread of the virus is at the barest minimum for the safety of lives of the people.