|
`Education on HIV/Aids should now be focused on children`
2008-09-22 10:22:04
By Rosemary Mirondo
A child living with HIV/Aids and able to grasp things should be enlightened of their situation to enable them avoid spreading the disease to other children instead of being stigmatised and banned from playing with others.
The remarks were made yesterday by Fatuma Waziri from WAMA Foundation during a media workshop on campaign for anti-stigma for HIV virus facilitated by the Associaton of Journalists Against Aids (AJAAT).
She said many parents and even some school teachers tend to stigmatise children living with HIV when playing for fear that they might spread the virus to other children.
Fatuma said that the stigma prevails because of lack of education, but normally breaks child morality and caused alot of disruption in their lives.
``If a child is told of the situation and ways to avoid spreading the virus to others, the child will adapt quickly and avoid playing rough games that might lead to bruising others,`` said Fatuma.
However she said a child should be told of the situation when they are in a position to understand things and should be educated that the virus was not a killer disease as announced but could be controlled, and the person could live longer if proper care is taken.
She said that a child should also be educated on the importance of taking medication continuously so as to have a long healthy life.
AJAAT Technical Manager, Charles Kayoka said a person living with HIV is already in pain due to the sickness and when they are stigmatised that amounted to another punishment.
Kayoka said that some people stigmatised orphans whose parents died of HIV/Aids only on the basis of built perceptions that the children were also HIV positive.
``Not all children whose parents have died of HIV/Aids are infected and even if they are they need love and attention for them to be able to cope with the situation they find themselves in,`` he said.
He said if a child was mocked and stigmatised they developed hatred to the community and later would raise a nation of people who hated it.
|
