The world over celebrated World Aids Day last Wednesday. One of the main messages amplified on this day each year is the fight against stigma and discrimination against those living with HIV/Aids.Infected people are often subjected to prejudice, negative attitudes, abuse and maltreatment. As a result of this many are shunned by family, peers and the wider community. They are also, at times, exposed to poor treatment in healthcare and education settings–an erosion of rights and psychological damage.
Discrimination can also negatively affect the success of testing and treatment. Many today cannot come forward to confess their HIV status because they are too afraid and not prepared to welcome the heavy criticisms that comes with one being HIV positive.One woman who is trying to eradicate the fear of that is Lorna Hamilton-Henry. HIV positive for the past 16 years, the proud mother of two, felt free to speak out on this destructive irreversible illness.
Q: How old were you when you contracted the virus?
A: I was 18 years old at the time.
Do you know who you contracted the disease from?
Yes, it was my very first boyfriend.
How did you find out you were HIV positive?
After the death of my first daughter. After the relationship with my first boyfriend I did not know I was HIV positive. I met my husband when I was 20 years old and I became pregnant before we were married.
Our daughter, however, died at seven months old. Her death was not because of HIV, though. She died as a result of a heart attack due to her very rare blood type–A negative.
When she died I grieved a lot. I stopped eating and I wasn't sleeping so I began to lose weight. People started saying I had Aids and that's what my daughter died from.
After a year of grieving my husband decided that we should take a blood test to prove people wrong. We did, and when we got the results I was positive and he was not.
What was it like finding out you were HIV positive and your husband was not?
It was real scary and hard because I was so young and I knew nothing about HIV. There was that immediate fear that I was going to die. With regards to my husband being negative, I was convinced that they were wrong and he had to be infected. But to this day he is HIV negative.
How is it possible that he is HIV negative?
Well, the doctors said it could be because of his rare blood type. Studies have shown people with rare blood types cannot house bacteria and infections in their system for long–they die.
You are a mother of two children and they are HIV negative. Did you ever think this would be possible?
Not at all. But with the help of my former doctors–Dr Amery Browne and Dr Jeffery Edwards, I learned how I could have a baby without transmitting the virus to it.
Were you ever discriminated against by anyone?
Oh yes. In the early stages my mother and older sister discriminated against me and I lost a lot of friends. But the most painful encounter I had with discrimination was when I had my daughter at the hospital.
I was cut during the birth of my daughter so I needed to be stitched. After the mid-wife delivered my daughter she sent for the doctor to come stitch me up, but she refused to come and the mid-wife had to literally "cuss" her out and she still didn't come right away. I had my daughter at 2.45 am and she never showed up until 8.30 am.
Do you have support now?
Now, yeah...lots and lots of people will call and encourage me to continue being who I am. My mother and sister have also turned around.
Do you ever get weary wanting to give up?
A: All the time. I get weary when people say things that are not true or correct. I get weary when I am out there fighting against discrimination and people still make silly remarks. I get weary taking the tablets...and when I suffer the side effects.
Are you afraid of one day dying?
In my quiet time I think about that and I fear that I would not be there for the weddings and graduations.
How would you describe HIV if it were a person?
A silent killer.
What advice would you give to people who still have unprotected sex?
Take responsibility for your actions because if you become infected with the virus it would not be the other person's fault. The onus is on you.