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Signs partnership to eliminate discrimination, stigma
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Nigeria has disclosed moves to amend the HIV/AIDS Anti-Discrimination Act 2014 to make it more justiciable as she joined the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate All Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Control, Amobi Godwin Ogah, disclosed this at a briefing organised by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), in collaboration with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and stakeholders. The engagement was in commemoration of Zero Discrimination Day and the official launch of Nigeria’s membership of the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate All Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination.
Zero Discrimination Day is a global observance aimed at ending all forms of discrimination and promoting human rights and health for all.
This year holds particular significance for Nigeria as the country takes a historic step by joining the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate All Forms of HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination. The HIV/AIDS Anti-Discrimination Act 2014 was passed with the primary objective of protecting people living with HIV/AIDS against all forms of discrimination and stigma. The law further prohibits any employer, individual, or organisation from requiring a person to take an HIV/AIDS test as a precondition for employment or access to services.
However, Ogah lamented that 20 years down the line, “there still exist a lack of will both by Government and private sector to fully implement this law.” According to him, “We all choose to play the ostrich by burying our heads to multiple infractions against people living with HIV/AIDS by not giving them requisite assistance.
“It’s on this basis that the zero-campaign and the launch of Nigeria partnership could not have come at a better time than now. We must strongly support the advocacy for the protection of Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS against all forms of discrimination and stigma in the country.
“We in the Committee are ready to partner with NACA and stakeholders to organise a retreat to take a critical look at the 2014 law with the aim of amending it and making it more justiciable,” Ogah disclosed.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, UNAIDS Country Director, Dr Leopold Zekeng, said, “This partnership underscores Nigeria’s commitment to creating an inclusive society where every individual, regardless of their HIV status, can live free from stigma and discrimination.”
While noting that Nigeria has made remarkable progress in reducing deaths related to HIV/AIDS by putting more people on treatment, he pointed out that not much progress has been recorded in the area of zero discrimination and stigma. Zekeng called for redoubled efforts to fully implement the core objectives of the partnership.
On his part, the Director General of NACA, Dr Temitope Ilori, lamented that only 18 states have domesticated the HIV/AIDS Anti-Discrimination Act 2014 and called on more states to do so. The Director General, who was represented by James Anenih, emphasised the need to fully domesticate and implement the law. According to her, “If we don’t implement what we have agreed, it doesn’t make any sense,” she quipped.
Also present at the event were Justice O.Y. Anuwe of the National Industrial Court; Dr Ade Bashorun, National Coordinator, NASCP; Ms Funmi Adesanya, PEPFAR Coordinator; Mr Hilary Ogbonna, Senior Human Rights Adviser, NHRC; among other stakeholders.