Abstract:
The study investigated status of stigmatization and discrimination against People Living with HIV (PLP) accessing antiretroviral therapy and development of reduction strategies against stigma and discrimination for them in Enugu State. Five specific objectives with five corresponding research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population for the study consisted of 25, 271 people living with HIV accessing anti-retroviral therapy in Enugu State. The instruments for data collection were a 29-item questionnaire tagged status of Stigmatization and Discrimination against People Living Positive Questionnaire (SSDPQ) and a 6–item researcher-developed Reduction Strategy Questionnaire (RSQ) against stigmatization and discrimination for PLP. Data for the study were collected from a sample of 1,688 people living positive selected through multi-stage sampling procedure. Percentages were used to answer the research questions, while Chi-square independent test was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Results of the research showed that low proportion (20.7%) of PLP experienced stigmatization and (23.5%) experienced discrimination in Enugu State. The results also showed low proportion (23.8%) of PLP between 21 – 40 years, (19.1%) of PLP between 41-60 years and (20.1) of PLP above 60 years experienced stigmatization, while low proportion (17.7%) of PLP between 21- 40 years and (20.7%) of PLP 40 years and above experienced discrimination based on age. The results further showed low proportion (20.5%) of urban PLP and (21.2%) of rural PLP experienced stigmatization while low proportion (21.8%) of urban PLP and (9.9%) of rural PLP experienced discrimination. Furthermore, the results showed higher stigmatization (male-21.6%, female-20.1%) and discrimination (male-21.1%, female-16.9%) against male than female PLP. Gender and location were found not significant while age and level of education were found to have significant difference with stigmatization and discrimination against PLP. Based on the high stigmatization and discrimination against the youth (21 40 years) and urban PLP, and the steady rise in HIV infection from 2012 upwards in Enugu State, reduction strategies were formulated. The researcher recommended, among others, that the developed reduction strategies, among which were PLP adherence to ART to prevent drug resistance and suppress viral load (90%) and mass media campaigns against discrimination for PLP (80%), should be religiously implemented to reduce stigma and discrimination against PLP.
