GULU UNIVERSITY MEDICAL JOURNAL

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Gulu University Medical Journal (GUMJ) 2009/2010 Vol 5. main source of contraction of HIV and these immoral acts such as prostitution should be discouraged. In this study the majority of the respondents believe that stigmatization of those suspected of being HIV positive is one of the ways by which the spread of the pandemic could be controlled, it is in their believe and thinking that when one is suspected of being HIV positive and is frequently talked about, he/she would be made known to the community members and therefore those in the community would take extra care in choosing their sexual partners in which case, thy would probably not go for the suspected HIV positive member of the community. Many of the respondents who subscribe to this notion of pointing a finger believed that by constantly pointing a finger at those suspected to be infected would go a long way in reducing the spread of the pandemic since one day all members of the society will know them and stop choosing them as sexual partners and this could isolate them one by one and one day they would die and leave the society free of HIV/AIDs. Practices to HIV/AIDs stigma: The study revealed that the majority of the respondents were practicing HIV related stigma with 90% of the respondents having practiced stigmatization to a suspected HIV positive patient though only 62% of those agreed that it was the best way of controlling the spread of HIV pandemic within their community. The study also revealed that the majority (97%) of the youths knew the location of the youth friendly services and with only 3% of the respondents having admitted that they were not aware or had no clue of such clinics and out of those who knew about the location of the clinics and the services only 59% of them went to visit the clinic and tested for HIV and again only 10.3% of them were able to get information about HIV related stigma from these youth friendly clinics therefore it looked even certain that at the youths centers, youths were not provided with the adequate information on HIV related stigma during interactions between the service providers and the youths in question. Conclusion: 1. There is adequate knowledge of the youths to HIV stigma 2. There is poor attitude of the youths towards HIV stigma with 56% of the youths believing that HIV stigma is the way forward in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDs. 3. The practice of HIV stigma is still rampant with 90% of the respondents admitting to have practiced stigmatization on those they suspected of being infected with the HIV virus. Recommendations: The challenges facing Northern Uganda are enormous and especially given the severity of the HIV/AIDs epidemics. The following recommendations have been made: 1. The ministries of health, Ministry of Education help introduce HIV related stigma issues in the syllabus in the secondary and primary schools in order to reduce it amongst the youths. 2. Prevention and mitigation of stigmatization on HIV person should be made in to policy, adopted and spread among the youths by the ministry of health. Gulu University Medical Students’ Association (GUMSA) Passion for life 46
Gulu University Medical Journal (GUMJ) 2009/2010 Vol 5. References 1. International center on women, 2002: stigmatization and women. 2. Janice and Hogle: Declining HIV prevalence, behaviour change and national response. 3. Man J (1987): Statement at informal briefing on AIDs to the 42nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, 20th October. 4. Herek GM and Capito JP (1993): Public relations to AIDs in the United States, a second decade of stigma. 5. Coates SM, Christopher TJ, Lazarus JL (1989): Perception of AIDs, the continuing saga of AIDs related stigma. 6. Malcolm A, Aggleton PJ, Bromfman, MM, Galvao J, Mane P and Verral J (1998): HIV and AIDs related stigmatization and discriminatory journal. 7. UNAIDS (2003): Report on HIV/AIDs and its stigma and impact on the fight against the pandemic 8. UNAIDs (2005): Report on HIV/AIDs and the stigma and its impact on the fight against the pandemic: 9. UNAIDs (2007): Report on HIV/ AIDs and stigma and its impact on the fight against the pandemic: www. unaids.com/report2008 10. Mugisha Kemirembe et al (2000). Mild may center report on HIV/AIDs Gulu University Medical Students’ Association (GUMSA) Passion for life 47
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