AIDS stigma: Shrine keepers reap harvest

Kuntunso -- Relatives of HIV/AIDS patients in the Brong Ahafo Region are said to be paying large sums of money to powerful shrine keepers in the region to protect their families from the stigma of the disease.

The shrine keepers usually demand huge sums of money, or items like cement, roofing sheets and some bottles of schnapps from willing relatives and in turn protect AIDS victims from being stigmatised by claiming that the gods have cursed the patients.

The Techiman District Co-ordinator of HIV/AIDS, Mr Takyi Acheampong, made this revelation at Kuntunso during a forum to educate the people on the dangers of the disease. The forum was organised by KUTABOM AIDS Volunteers, a community base organisation (CBO) in the Techiman district.

According to Mr Acheampong, some families reach agreement with the shrine keepers to accept responsibility so that they (the family) could tell the people that the gods have cursed the victim for one crime or the other but not that their family member is suffering from AIDS.

Mr Acheampong attributed the turn of events to the fact that many people tag the sufferers as prostitutes, a situation most families consider disgraceful and do not want to be associated with.

He, however, asked the people to have compassion for HIV/AIDS victims instead of blaming them for their predicament.

Mr Acheampong said if people begin to have compassion for victims and do not shy away from them, they can confidently reveal their HIV status to other people and thus help to educate those who have not contracted the disease.

He debunked the myth that AIDS affects only “burgers” and those who have travelled to Cote d’Ivoire and said AIDS is now at the doorsteps of everybody, including villagers.

On his part, Mr Matthew Owusu Brempong Pachico, the chairman of the volunteers, advised adults to dispose of used condoms properly since some children collect and use them as balloons.