The extent of stigma and discrimination among People Living with HIV/AIDS is alarming. It has caused a lot of the rightsholders (PLWHA) to live under “lock and key”. Not many positive members can come out and fend for themselves. This trend has caused concern in the Local Government Area in focus (Jos North) of Plateau State. As a result of living in the shadows many  of the rightsholders  do not get out and live their full lives. Looking at this trend, the umbrella body of people living with the virus of HIV (NEPWHAN) in Plateau State took the initiative of designing this project. Through the project Quality living by People Living with HIV and AIDS in Plateau State, NEPWHAN is strengthening the capacity of its members in specified and selected communities of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, in order to reduce personalised stigmatization and discrimination. This has been a major holdback on the quality of life and productivity for the rightsholders on the Plateau.

Improving the Quality of Living for People Living with HIV/AIDs  

People living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PLWHIV) are discriminated against and looked down upon. Unlike other vulnerable groups, they receive less empathy from the society because of the assumption that their health status is because of their wayward lifestyle. However, this narrative is slowly changing, although not so much so for the rural communities where people are not adequately informed. The discrimination always starts from the family, then transcends to immediate communities and the society at large. Within the health sector, they also experience discrimination because they are always kept in isolation with little attention. Many have lost valuable aspects of their lives because of their status, for instance, Blessing – a member of the Nigerian Airforce Base support group was sent away from home because she disclosed her status to her family 

Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN) was established in 1998 as a Non-Governmental Organisation to serve as a collective voice of PLHIV in the Country. The network has established structures at the zonal and all States including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and as well saddled with the responsibility of coordinating, supervising and monitoring activities and programs of over 1, 030 support groups membership across the Federation making it one of the biggest Patient network in Africa. NEPWHAN has formed constituent bodies; Association of Youth Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (APYIN), Association of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (ASWHAN), Association of Religious Leaders Living with and Personally Affected by HIV/AIDS (NINERELA+) to advocate and provide HIV programming intervention for the specific needs of their members. 

Through their project,  NEPWHAN sought to build the capacity of its members in specified and selected communities of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, aimed at bringing them out of personalised stigmatization and discrimination which has been a major hinderance for the quality living and productivity of all members in the Plateau. Support groups were created to create a platform for rightsholders to engage. The main aim was to contribute in enhancing their self worth and self esteem, and  their support group. 

Within support groups in Plateau State communities, PLHIV identify themselves as ‘because’. This is a code/slogan to identify as a member of the community. This might sound less empowering but they have taken up the name as a way to demonstrate that they are where they are, treated the way they are treated ‘because’ of their HIV status. This is the plight of most PLWHIV in Plateau State.  

One of the key achievement of the project was the new community, which PLWHIV were exposed to and embraced. During outreach sessions, they secluded themselves because they were used to being isolated. As they came into Voice family, they were surprised that they get invited to key activities of the program like linking and learning events. They note that in their previous projects, other local CSOs are not so open to identify with them. They were encouraged by the open arms which they were received into Voice family. They note that this level of inclusion was empowering on its own. 

Another key achievement was the confidence of members restored. Through various seminars and empowering programs that took place under the project, their self-worth was restored and they realised that only them can change how they feel about themselves.  With the right confidence and attitude, some of them were able to open up to their families on their status and how they feel and how they would like to be treated. The project engaged on focus group discussions with relevant families to educate them on HIV and need for acceptance. Many of these families are now advocates of non-discrimination against PLWHIV. 

The project has also gained the support of some agencies of government and the public. With the support of the grant, women affairs commission and that of youth and sports were invited for partnership under the project. During international events like the HIV day and during the 16 days of activism, NEPWAN was able to create massive awareness in partnership with these government agencies. It is the first time they are coming out boldly to educate and sensitise the public on issues affecting PLWHIV. The boldness can be attributed to the self-confidence they developed under the project and the support of the government which they now have. 

Finally, they were able to sustain the support groups they used during the health interventions they implemented in the past. The support groups are used as a safe space for members to provide each other with emotional support because they understand the plight. The safe space became a platform to interrogate some of the experiences they go through, to gain ideas from one another on how to manage discrimination and isolation, and to get information on the welfare of their members, as many die due to the withdrawal of some health interventions provided for them in the past.