The Executive Secretary National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu Esq has kicked against stigmatization and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS as the Commission joined the global community in commemorating the day to address the HIV related stigma and discrimination pursuant to its mandate.
Ojukwu stated this during the Critical Mass HIV/AIDS sensitization training to familiarize staff with the basics of HIV/AIDS so that they step down to colleagues and to also reinforce the linkages between HIV and human rights and strengthen partnership with the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN).
He further stated that this year’s theme ““ Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility “ is apt as the world is facing an unprecedented emergency , COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS become a tale of two pandemic and if we must take our response to the next level, by addressing the challenges related to discrimination to effectively collate and deal with complaints.
Speaking on the challenges, he called on stakeholders to wade into the issue because it is still a global health crisis especially in developing countries where young people who are the most productive segment of the population remain at risk.
The Director of Human Rights Institute, Ifeoma Nwakama who was represented by Fidelia Oroh also emphasised the existence of AIDS and its devastating impacts by calling for the protection of the rights of people living with the virus against every form of discrimination and stigmatization while noting that Statistics from UNAIDS has shown that 79.3 million people worldwide are still living with the virus with Nigeria having 1.7 million at the end of 2020.
The Coordinator NEPHWAN, Abdulkadir Ibrahim who was represented at the event commended the Commission for the training of trainers during the celebration by encouraging everyone to always protect the rights of their members because discrimination and stigmatization still exists. He thereby quoted Nelson Mandela who said “it is not the virus that kills people but the stigma associated with it”.
