People Living With HIV Virus Show Them Love!

People living with the HIV virus in our society, needs to be shown love.  And the only place where they can get this love is from their families, friends, neighbours and the government. The list goes on and on.
By showing them love, means you are empowering them to take their rightful position in nation building. They should not be stigmatised  or discriminated in society by anyone or institution because of their status.
The society needs to understand this. People living with the virus are our own relatives and friends. They have the right to leave like any other Gambian.
We heard stories where HIV positive patients are stigmatised and discriminated by their own people simply because they are HIV positive. This is a gross violation of their fundamental human rights. The society needs to change positively towards them.
Being positive with HIV does not mean the end of one’s life.  According to some HIV positive patients whom I was privileged to have some conservation with, said to me that they were living with the virus for the past 14 to 17 years. Amazing!
This is a clear testimony that having the virus does not means that you are nothing in the society.  And believe me some of these people used to be the breadwinners of their families and still, they are doing such that. Live and let’s live should be the order of the day.
The fight against the disease should be every Gambian business. If you are not infected, you are affected in one way or the other.
Therefore, it would be ideal if HIV positive patients are welcomed with open arms in the society- based on mutual trust, love and respect by their families, friends and the government in general.
We have seen or heard about stories in other countries how HIV patients are inhumanely treated as if they are not human beings.
This is not what we want to see here in our beloved Gambia.  All what we need to show them is love.
This is the way forward for our society to develop to higher heights.  Discriminating or stigmatising them, would not take our beloved Gambia anywhere further but backwards.
Some people in our society were infected with the virus not because they have many sexual partners. They were infected reasons beyond their control. As you know HIV is not only transmitted through sexual intercourse.
It can be transmitted through mother to child in some instances.  It can also be transmitted through an infected blood. The mode of transmission goes on and on and it differs in different ways.
They should not be blamed for what happened to them but rather, they should be allow to move and do whatever non-infected  people are doing in the society.
By doing this, people infected with the virus, will have the courage and stamina to publicly declare their status wherever they are without any negative repercussions.
First, the love must start with the families. They must lead by example. There and then that the society will learn how to appreciate HIV positive patients.  Let’s be our brother’s keepers.
Since the discovery of the disease in The Gambia in the 80’s, a lot has being done and said but yet still, more needs to be done  especially in the areas  of stigma and discrimination.
It is estimated that around the world, 7000 people are infected with the virus daily. This should be a concern to all.
The Gambia Network of Aids Support Society- GAMNASS I must say keep up the good work you are doing to your members and the country in particular.
If the society is aware, people will have informed choices on their sexual lives, thereby, reducing the risk of infection in our society.
This is exactly what GAMNASS is doing. Once again, keep it up.
Discriminating against an HIV positive patient means, you are trying to prevent him/her from getting treatment- by extension; it means you are encouraging un-save sexual practices.
It is therefore worth mentioning that people living with the virus needs special attention whenever they visit our clinics and hospitals.
Show them that smiling face. So that went they go to their homes, they will have the courage to visit the clinic or the hospital again for their medications.
But if they are discriminated for what they are, then history will judge us all wrong.
Show them love please!