Reduction of stigma among health workers during care giving to HIV/AIDS patients

By Nyasigo Kornel

Community members expect health centers to provide care that is of professional compassionate to the HIV/AIDS, but in contrary health care settings identifies as predominant locations where stigma occurs.

It has been observed by researchers who did study in Dar es Salaam Health centers of the stigma reduction intervention in the workplaces that most health workers avoid treating person with HIV/AIDS and hence pass him/her form one nurse to nurse.

In a study done by Dr. Jessie Mbwambo, specialist psychiatrist at Muhimbili National Hospital reveals that health workers feel at risk of infection from their HIV positive clients can occur due to accidental exposure and shortage of supplies.

“Like the other community members, health workers hold judgmental attitudes about the sexual transmission of HIV and also fear that community will view them as promiscuous if they become infected at the workplace,” he says.

During the global dialogue on fighting HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination at workplaces that took place at Tanzania Global Development Learning Centre (TGDLC), Tanzania researchers had an opportunity to share the study with their counterpart at Ethiopia where similar study has been done.

The study says that there have been some cases where health workers gossip about the HIV status of their client and disclose their clients’ diagnosis to his or her relatives but not to their clients.

The stigma can lead the HIV positive client to experience shaming and judgmental attitudes as well as fear of being turned away by the health workers.

According to Mbwambo, such an attitude has caused most clients to prefer to go to places of care where they think they will be well treated, hence some travel further for treatment, incur greater costs and delay seeking care until health problems are severe.
In the Ethiopa, according to the study presented by Dr. Hailom Banteyerga, he says that lack of correct information and confidence about HIV/AIDS among the health workers during care giving has been revealed to be the major source of discrimination and stigmatization of the patients in many HIV/AIDS care centers.

To the Ethipian, as study revealed, religious norms were also bar towards helping people with sexually transmitted diseases.

Dr. Hailom presents the study case of the lady 23 as says, “There is nothing I do rather than isolating myself. Nobody wants to be close to me rather than those who do not know that I am HIV positive. I know those who are close to me will also leave me when they hear the rumour. So, I don’t want to be close to anyone.”

Tanzania has to learn something from the approach that Dr. Hailom uses to reduce stigma and discrimination at workplaces.

According to his approach that some of his trainees has adopted he says, “Nowadays HIV is a disaster disease I usually give lecture to the public in order to give information on HIV/AIDS. Thus I give lesson to people to take care of themselves from this disease to reach to their goal.”

In Tanzania Dr. Mbwambo participates in training workers so as to reduce the stigma and discrimination at workplaces. Recently 120 health workers were trained and monitored whether there are attitude changes in their working places.

He says that only 60 out of 120 trainees were able to identify stigmatizing behavior and respond to it in ward environment and were able to stand up for rights of patients so as not prematurely discharged.

“Some were able to discuss with other who did not trained of how best to care for patients and correct others where breaches are observed,” he says.

Nyasigo Kornel is a communication Officer of Health and Poverty Resource Centre (HPRC) at Ifakara Health Research and Development Centre (IHRDC) and formerly a journalist to the Guardian and also a author of several titles in multidisciplinary issues.