Covid-19: Human rights activists worried about stigma

Human rights defenders are concerned that stigma arising out of COVID 19 could stay with us longer than any other social problem faced in the recent past. Some say it could be worse than HIV/Aids.

The earliest confirmed case of HIV in Uganda was diagnosed in 1982 and since then, 38 years later many believe that Uganda and the world are long over HIV stigma, or are we.

Ruth Namutebi Elizabeth, she is HIV positive but this status has come at a price.

Namutebi tells us of her struggles living with HIV first on the list, failing to achieve her dream of getting a scholarship to study architecture. The reason for this, her HIV status.

Namutebi  however envisions a time when she will not have to be judged only on the basis of her HIV status.

Dorothy Amuron, a human rights activist with the the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) revealed that the stigma for COVID 19 may even be worse than that of HIV.

She called upon government to think about training counsellors to deal with patients’ mental health after the virus is gone.