‘Discrimination of HIV persons encourages spread of the virus’

Speaking during a one day public awareness program on the rights of People Living With HIV/AIDS organised by the National Human Rights Commission yesterday in Abuja, he explained that institutions and individuals who discriminate against people affected with the virus have contributed in causing damages in the country.The damages according to him, is that the […]

Speaking during a one day public awareness program on the rights of People Living With HIV/AIDS organised by the National Human Rights Commission yesterday in Abuja, he explained that institutions and individuals who discriminate against people affected with the virus have contributed in causing damages in the country.
The damages according to him, is that the discrimination has denied people with intellectuals the opportunity to contribute their quota to the development of the country, it has restrained them from interacting freely with other people.
Minster of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina represented by the Assistant Director, Planning and Research and Statistics, Ogor Gorden said “to address the situation of these vulnerable people, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) sponsored a bill that would make it a punishable offence to discriminate against people living with the virus.”
Representing the Director General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof. John Idoko, Mr. Kunle Adeniyi said the anti discrimination and stigmatisation bill has been passed but “we are waiting for the president to sign it into law.”
He said that when it becomes law, institutions would not compel applicants to go for a mandatory HIV test before they employ them because the test was voluntary.