Kano state team leader, Health Initiatives For Safety And Stability In Africa (HIFASS), Mrs. Maray Umoh, has said HIV infection is not the end of life, assuring that with constant medical consultation, the gravity of infection could be reduced to manageable level.
Speaking to newsmen in Kano, Monday shortly after commemorating the 2019 HIV/AIDS Day, Umoh wondered why victims of the infection should be stigmatised to the extent of living hopeless life, adding that even if the disease could not be completely cured, the agony associated with its infection could be ameliorated via constant medical consultation and treatment in designated clinics and hospitals.
According to her, it was counterproductive for HIV victims to believe that disappearing from public sight would be the best way to shield themselves from being mocked, despised or stigmatised, positing that HIV is an ailment that does not prevent its victims from mixing and and doing well with the general public.
She however stated that HIFASS, being a USAID funded project was all out to inject succour into the minds of HIV victims and make them to have a sense of belonging through the provision of necessary drugs that could be prescribed and administered on patients, pointing out that adopting hide and seek attitude would only dampen effort aimed at coming to their rescue.
She said HIFASS was ever ready to embark on house to house consultation with the victims in order to take a comprehensive stock of what they need to cushion their predicament, affirming that there was no way such an objective could be achieved with the victims remaining apathetic.
She also described the World HIV/AIDS day as a platform for assessing the genuine metrics of gauging the extent of how the disease took a heavy toll on its victims with a view to finding a palliative solution stressing that the non-governmental organisation would not fold its arms in neglecting and abandoning the victims in their precarious condition.
She called on people stigmatizing the victims with no justifiable premise to have a re-think and come to grapple with the fact that they have no cogent reason to stigmatize those affected by the HIV /AIDS, stressing however that their gruelling ordeal could only be lessen by way of expressing absolute concern and magnanimity.