The World Health Organization has warned that discrimination against those who test positive for coronavirus could be more dangerous than the virus itself.
In South Africa, people who have the virus say they’re facing a double burden – fighting off the illness and suffering victimisation from their communities.
The stigma associated with such an infectious virus has cut through society.
A woman who tested positive for coronavirus shared her experience of discrimination with me:
“There was a stakeholder’s meeting which was scheduled to take place but couldn’t attend because of my Covid-19 status… I sent an email excusing myself from attending the meeting… not knowing by doing that a volcano would erupt… there were hateful expressions… expressions of intolerance… a violation of my rights because my status was shared without my consent.”
Her neighbours said they feared she would infect them. They called the police and an ambulance.
She has a plea for South Africans:
“People infected by Covid-19 don’t need further victimisation. Already our immune system is compromised, we don’t need stress. Stress can affect the immune system. This is the time for ubuntu… a spirit of kindness, goodness, compassion, understanding and if we can have some of that I think we’re halfway to winning this battle.”
Experts have warned that stigma might scare people away from mass testing drives which are taking place all over South Africa.
“One of the main challenges in our fight against the virus is if people fear stigma more than the virus. Then it means it becomes a barrier – they won’t go ahead and get tested. Even if they get tested they’ll be afraid to disclose because of fear of stigma which then creates a huge problem because testing is one of the most important things in terms of fighting this virus,” said Sibulele Qhogwana, is a clinical psychologist.
BBC
