End stigma, discrimination among children orphaned by HIV/Aids

What you need to know:

  • Start investments. All Ugandans need to embrace the available HIV prevention and treatment interventions to avoid leaving our children as orphans at a tender age.
  • All parents, especially those living with HIV, should start up investments that our children can afford to run, even when we are gone. This can help them access basic needs, attend school, etc.

November 12 was World Orphans Day and Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate this special time. This year’s theme is: ‘Empowered by love’.
The day initiated by the United Nations to raise awareness among millions of children displaced by HIV/Aids and poverty means a lot to the people of Uganda, because the country has been fighting HIV in what you can call a hard-hitting battle, since the 1980s when it was first realised. The 2017 Unicef report indicates that there are more than 140,000,000 children in the world and that eight out of 10 children orphaned by HIV/Aids live in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the UNAIDS report 2017, Uganda has lost more than 26,000 people to HIV/Aids -related causes. Based on this, it is clear that the plague has left many children without parents. It has also affected them psychologically as many of them witnessed the pain and suffering their parents went through before succumbing to HIV/Aids.

Today, Uganda’s national HIV prevalence is at 7.3 per cent. The Uganda Aids Orphan Foundation that helps vulnerable children orphaned by HIV explains that with more than 2.3 million children orphaned due to Aids-related causes, Uganda carries the highest percentage of Aids orphans in the world.
Generally, it is common knowledge that every child’s happiness is having their parents near and taking care of them, but the story is far worse for children whose parents have been snatched by HIV/Aids. These children have instead embarked on the longest and toughest journey, characterised by suffering, poverty, stigma and discrimination. This in reality shouldn’t be the story of any child.

In Uganda today, when a child loses its parents, life takes a U-turn, as life changes from normal to abnormal. Apart from missing the parental love that every child wishes, many will drop out of school due to lack of support, inadequate feeding, clothing and medical care. The situation will even get harder for children whose parents have died of HIV/Aids, as almost everyone in their families and communities will shun them. For them, it is pretty hard to get a care taker.

Some of us can attest to the fact that in our communities, a number of children orphaned by HIV/Aids have had their lives dramatically change to unpleasantness after the death of their parents because family members usually disassociate themselves from them, assuming they are also living with HIV, even before taking them for a test. The increased stigma and discrimination has, save for improved awareness approaches, affected many children particularly those of school going age. Many have abandoned their homes and schools as they can no longer accommodate the verbal insults from their families, peers and some teachers. Such insults as, “your mother or father even died of HIV/Aids” were and are still common among play groups.

In a study done by UNAIDS and Unicef titled, ‘|Children orphaned by Aids: Frontline responses from Eastern and Southern Africa’, the distress and social isolation experienced by children, both before and after the death of their parent or parents, are strongly intensified by the shame, fear and rejection that often surrounds people living with HIV/Aids. It further highlights that because of this stigma and the often-irrational fear surrounding Aids, children may be denied access to schooling and healthcare.
The 2017 people living with HIV stigma index survey done by the National Forum of people living with HIV/Aids Networks in Uganda (NAFOPHANU) shows that in the 12 months prior to the study, 77 (19 per cent) had experienced discriminatory remarks from family members and 78 (19 per cent) suffered verbal harassment.

Further, stigma among children whose parents have died of HIV/Aids also contributes to the increasing number of street children in Uganda. This is because after the death of these children’s breadwinners - the parents, the caretakers tend to isolate them from their own children. As a result, the former take to the streets in search for happiness. One can imagine what happens to them in case they were also living with HIV.
The government and civil society organisations have done a commendable job to source for, rehabilitate and care for children living with and orphaned by HIV, as these tend to also suffer from poverty. Despite this, there are still many children in our communities who need such services and the numbers grow every day.

As a way forward, all Ugandans need to embrace the available HIV prevention and treatment interventions to avoid leaving our children as orphans at a tender age. All parents, especially those living with HIV, should start up investments that our children can afford to run, even when we are gone. This can help them access basic needs, attend school, thus avoiding poverty. Well-wishers and responsible bodies need to identify and help children orphaned by HIV to enable them live better life.

Ms Nakibuka is a volunteer at the National Forum of People Living with HIV/Aids Networks in Uganda.
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