PLWAs complain of increasing stigmatisation

Bolgatanga, Aug. 7 GNA - People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) at the weekend expressed concern at the increasing rate of stigmatisation of people with the infection.

"We had thought that through increased education and the high rate of awareness creation about HIV/AIDS, people would understand and accept us as they accepted people suffering from other diseases=94; Mr Victor Nti-Berko, Upper East Regional Chairman of the National Association of Network of PLWAs said at a day's workshop on HIV/AIDS in Bolgatanga. He said many PLWAs were still shunned and discriminated by society. Mr Ntim-Berko said many of the PLWAs had suffered ill treatment from their relatives, some of whom sacked them from their homes and followed to persuade their landlords to eject them from the rooms they had rented.

He said there were cases of school children being sacked from school because their parents were living with HIV/AIDS. He said some of their members, who worked in the private sector, had lost their jobs and had no means of earning an income. He appealed to the Government to give PLWAs, who could not pay the premium of the National Health Insurance Scheme, a special package that would enable them to access free medical care.

Mr Ntim-Berko expressed regret that some health personnel maltreated PLWAs, who sought medical care, saying, they shouted at them and treated them like dirt.

The Workshop was aimed at calling PLWAs and affected children to dialogue with key policy makers and to ask that their rights as human beings be respected.