Mufuzi said that it is not him alone but his entire family that is stigmatised because he is HIV-positive. My kids psychologically do not live a free life. Stigma, he added, was due to the shocking ignorance that exists in societies over the disease. Lamine Bah of the Santayalla Support Society in the Gambia told IRIN that his family has also faced hostility from the community. You don t have to sympathise with us, but you have to empathise.
Leadership is important to tackle stigma on various levels.
At the moment, only a handful of African countries are working on legislation to outlaw discrimination on the basis of AIDS status. I m expendable. When you go public you re visible and can do advocacy, and that s the change we want. We as people living with AIDS say we can benefit society and make a difference. The coach of the Cameroonian Olympic winning team has been appointed as coach of the Cameroonian National team, the Indomitable Lions, a sports ministry spokesman said on Saturday.