Abia State Government has been charged to instantly domestic HIV Anti Stigma and Discrimination Law in the state. The Abia State Project Officer for CLM/GHR Project, Mr. Whyte C Ikocha, gave the charge during a 2 day Demand Creation and Awareness Workshop held in Umuahia, recently.
He declared that when the law is domesticated in Abia State, it would go a long way to remove and eradicate all forms of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in the state.
Earlier in his speech, the State Coordinator of NEPWHAN, Mr. Michael Ogbonnaya, said the capacity building workshop was packaged to educate and enlighten people living with HIV/AlDS, key population, community leaders, servants of God, and other stakeholders ,to stand firm and ensure no one tramples on the rights of people living with HIV/ AIDS in their domains.
He tasked all participants to take the workshop seriously, adding that community leaders and other stakeholders must prevail on the public not to stigmatize or discriminate people living with HIV/AIDS.
Delivering her lectures, the Legal Advisor, NEPWHAN, Barr ILiasu Rakiya, declared that it is the duty of the government at all levels, to respect, promote and protect human rights of people living with HIV/ AIDS and other citizens of Nigeria.
Legal Advisor, NEPWHAN, Barr ILiasu Rakiya
Rakiya further marshalled out various forms of human rights abuses and violations people living with HIV/AIDS pass through in the hands of individuals and institutions.
She, however, displayed how some health practitioners openly abuse/ violate Patient Bill of Rights, adding that such violations include; unlawful disclosure of the status of some patients living with HIV/ AIDS, refusing to treat them in the time of emergency, among several abuses, while frowning at individuals and institutions that discriminate and even deny people living with HIV/ AIDS the right to work.
The Legal Advisor, NEPWHAN, reiterated that people living with HIV/AIDS should not hesitate to seek legal redress, whenever their human rights were abridged by any individual and institution.
In another paper, Barr Rakiya disclosed that NEPWHAN is leveraging on technology to ply their trade, adding that this body has introduced iMonitor to aid NEPWHAN source real time data in her areas of operations.
She, however, elaborated more on the iMonitor, stating that iMonitor is a mobile app deployed to collect and report instantly, real time, human rights violations and abuses, while adding that in Abia State, 15 data collectors have been engaged by NEPWHAN with 6 other resource persons, as NEPWHAN now covers activities mostly in two Local Government Areas in the state, which include, Obingwa and Umuahia North.
