'' The attention of the Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN) has been drawn to the purported social media publication by a practicing Nurse who goes by the name Ejimbe Lilian targeted at perpetuating stigma and discrimination against People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Most worrisome is the fact that this Nurse is a licensed and trained health care professional who is under oath of confidentiality to protect both the identity of her patients and the sanctity of her profession. This singular act will not only encourage other people to stigmatize and discriminate against people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria but will also increase the already high stigma index in the country. Knowing that there is an Anti-Stigma and Discrimination Law in Nigeria, CiSHAN has conducted a preliminary investigation and made the following findings:
1. Her real name is Deborah Chinasa Anaba 2.
She is a Staff Nurse with Nobsams Hospital 44 Trans Amadi Industrial Layout, Port Harcourt. Our State Coordinator visited the hospital to verify her real identity and matched the online pictures with the picture Hospital and her colleagues in the same hospital
3. The Medical Director of the Hospital is trying to shield her from being arrested and prosecuted
4. River State Government through the Ministry of Health has been collaborating with the Civil Society and Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS to fish-out this unfortunate poster and bring her to justice using the Anti Stigma Law.
With these preliminary findings, we have planned the following actions
1. A petition to Rivers Commissioner of Police for her immediate arrest and prosecution in
accordance with the Anti-Discrimination Law
With these preliminary findings, we have planned the following actions
1. A petition to Rivers Commissioner of Police for her immediate arrest and prosecution in
accordance with the Anti-Discrimination Law
2. A petition to the Registrar of Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria regarding the breech of ethical conduct and subsequent withdraw of her Nursing License/blacklisting
3. A letter to Federal Ministry of Health/PEPFAR/WHO/ River State Government to immediately investigate the treatment program in the facility and close it down to avoid further discrimination by the hospital management and staff as we suspect that Management is actively aware of her actions hence the shield, they are providing for her.
4. From her immediate family, we demand an unreserved apology to the HIV community in
Nigeria.
On this Note, we want to emphasize and further educate the general public that it is an offence to disclose someone HIV status to another person without their written and documented permission. Anyone found contravening this is stigmatizing and thereby commits an offence punishable under the Anti Stigma Law enacted into law on 28th November 2014.
We urge Civil Society and PLHIV Members to remain calm as we will ensure that justice is done appropriately.
Thank you
Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN)
Nigeria.
On this Note, we want to emphasize and further educate the general public that it is an offence to disclose someone HIV status to another person without their written and documented permission. Anyone found contravening this is stigmatizing and thereby commits an offence punishable under the Anti Stigma Law enacted into law on 28th November 2014.
We urge Civil Society and PLHIV Members to remain calm as we will ensure that justice is done appropriately.
Thank you
Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CiSHAN)
Good deal.
ReplyDeleteHer license should be withdrawn.
ReplyDeleteSuch unprofessionalism.
Blablabla...so they're looking for the nurse to crucify,how many of those intentionally spreading the virus has been arrested and persecuted? The nurse was wrong but those people who are intentionally spreading the virus are evil too and needs to be arrested and persecuted too. She was just pained seeing that some callous people are on revenge mission to share the virus to other innocent people. I applaud her to be honest. She's bold and fearless. I just wished she had opened a new Facebook account with name and a pics that doesn't belong to her DAT way no one can trace the publication to her.
DeleteBravooo nurse.
Anon.13.07..
DeleteThe nurse is plain stupid and unprofessional going by this story.
Yes,HIV infected individuals who knowingly and purposely spread the disease deserve to be punished ,in dome parts of the world it's a crime. The fact that in Nigeria it is not a crime punishable by law to best of my knowledge ,doesnt make the nurses action wise and laudable.
I support the nurse jare.
DeletePlease don't support the nurse o. Its wrong. Do you know that some staff working in HIV clinics have the virus too? Some do not. Do you know that family members escort those with the virus to their clinic days? Do you know some collect drugs on the behalf of family members who can't make it to the clinic because of I'll health? Do yo know people like myself are negative but working tirelessly for cure and management of the disease in labs worldwide, some of us may become infected in the course of research.
DeleteThe nurse had no right to paste pictures of anyone. None of you supporting her are Right to do so. Stigmatization must stop.
luleha virologist ...some of us may become infected in the course of research
DeleteI do no envy u. Gisike
I also got infected in the line of duty. Tho I ave been on treatment and my VL is undetundetected.
DeleteWhen I saw the story online I knew that she had bitten more than she could chew. Now she has been tagged an unfortunate poster. She was clearly in breach of the ethics of her profession. But I got the sense that she in conjunction with some people, perhaps her employers were trying to out someone popular who has been spreading the virus to unsuspecting citizens. It is all sad really, because on the one hand it is wrong to stigmatise those living with the virus and on the other hand there are those infected who have no conscience spreading the virus gleefully to unsuspecting people.
ReplyDeletePeople living with HIV/Aids and spreading it intentionally are the evil people here not Aunty nurse. All of you blabbing pray you're not intentionally infected by a wicked and heartless carrier.
DeletePeople should please learn to be empathic towards other people's predicament. Until you have a loved one living with thiss virus, you wont know how it feels. #Saynotostigmatization #Saynotodiscrimination
ReplyDeleteWe're empathetic to the good people living with HIV/Aids and not distributing it upandan like Xmas present. But those ones who are spreading it all over the place their place is inside hottest pit of hell. And we're not going to be emphatic to them when the virus consume them like fire. Evil people everywhere.
DeleteBut tell people with Hiv to stop spreading.i am not discriminating as I know it can happen to anyone and it doesn't make anybody less human.Am sure she did this because she knows something we don't know
ReplyDeleteKai! See as this lady just put herself into unnecessary wahala. People need to be careful and caution of what they say on SM.
ReplyDeletei saw a disclaimer post yesterday that her account was hacked.
ReplyDeleteit was her friends that brought her attention to the post.
Lmao so someone went to her place her work, took pictures of these victims and used her hacked account to post same pictures to stigmatize the victims. Yeah, it really makes sense.
DeleteWhat if the said person she snitched on was spreading the virus to pple who didn’t know he had it? Well both r wrong sha
ReplyDeleteThere’s always that one person.
DeleteHow a nurse will behave in this despicable manner beats me. When I was collecting blood samples for my M.Sc dissertation in a specialist hospital, saw so many of them and it never crossed my mind to take pictures of them. Take the pictures and do what with it sef? This her behavior must be addressed and she must be dealt with. Silly girl
ReplyDeletePls what did the nurse do? Help me I am not on Instagram
ReplyDeleteWhy is her employers shielding her? Are they also on her list?
ReplyDeleteThere shouldn't be no beating about the bush on this matter . She broke the code of ethics of her profession. Her nursing license should be revoked! She should never practice nursing again.
It is not by her exposing those with HIV that will sensitize the public to practice safe sex, know your status, avoid promiscuity etc.
Africans especially should stop this atigmatization of HIV/ AIDS victims. Cancer, heart diseases , kidney failure is there with the highest percentage of deaths. HIV is one of the lowest in terms of percentage causing death.
-Why ? Because there is treatment to manage the viral load hence there are people with HIV outliving so called healthy non stigmatized individuals with other ailments.
-More so HIV can be avoided, whereas you cannot avoid most cancers, if your kidneys are messed up, dialysis can only help you a little while to prolong your life and kidney transplant is not even within reach of an average Nigerian.
That hospital that the director must sleep with u before employment. I even know d girl...very disrespectful and d nerve she has ehn..you would think a battalion of army protects her, this is small compared to what she utters from her mouth.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. No wonder the hospital management is protecting her.
DeleteNa wa..
DeleteTHE NURSE SHOULD BETTER GO & OPEN HER OWN NGO...quickly and make it her full time commitment: WORKING ON SPREADING HIV / AIDS AWARENESS!!!
ReplyDeleteStarting with identifying quickly now those 3 women who went to that sex shop in Abuja with senator elisha abbo... or former ishiaku abbo diseased monkey on the rampage attacking store attendant!!!
Shikena!💪💪💪
Good movement. The nurse is a stupid girl and she deserve whatever comes her way. She broke the code of ethics and so she should face the consequence. I'm a medical laboratory scientist and have been working with an international NGO for HIV/AIDs over 2years and half now. I see and interact with these day every day of my life and never for once have I thought of doing what she did. I'm even friends with some and some of the guys ask me out at times.
ReplyDeleteEven though she was trying to expose one of the serial patient spreading the disease up and down, there are ways you go about it, that is why each facility has committee on cases like this to handle and bring the person to book. We had a cause of a married man in my facility infecting girls up and down on purpose and it was brought to our notice by our fellow worker and handed over to the committee involved in such case and the man was caught.
She went about it the wrong way and was even boasting about it on fb.She's so lucky it didn't happen in the state I'm working, by now she would have been in jail. Nonsense girl.
Stop stigmatizing PLHIV
Good movement. The nurse is a stupid girl and she deserve whatever comes her way. She broke the code of ethics and so she should face the consequence. I'm a medical laboratory scientist and have been working with an international NGO for HIV/AIDs over 2years and half now. I see and interact with these day every day of my life and never for once have I thought of doing what she did. I'm even friends with some and some of the guys ask me out at times.
ReplyDeleteEven though she was trying to expose one of the serial patient spreading the disease up and down, there are ways you go about it, that is why each facility has committee on cases like this to handle and bring the person to book. We had a cause of a married man in my facility infecting girls up and down on purpose and it was brought to our notice by our fellow worker and handed over to the committee involved in such case and the man was caught.
She went about it the wrong way and was even boasting about it on fb.She's so lucky it didn't happen in the state I'm working, by now she would have been in jail. Nonsense girl.
Stop stigmatizing PLHIV
Good one. Nurse that cannot abide by simple work ethics is that one a nurse? Who even made her judge Judy? Is it everyone that got the virus via sexual intercourse?
ReplyDeleteI hope she's dealt with seriously so next time she'll know how to put her mouth where it belongs.
She was busy flexing her muscles online, saying she'll still be with her job after a month and insulting all her critics so I'm counting down for her. Unless they try to sweep this one under the carpet like others too.
When your village masquerade is the one hitting the drum you are dancing to.
ReplyDeleteI guess this will be an eye opener to all stigmatising PLWHA
Where's the empathy and compassion for patients in her care? What kind of insensitive nursing care is this? Who told her HIV is only transmitted by sexual relations? How about the many innocent people like, newborns, medical professionals/surgeons, unsuspecting spouses, blood transfused patients, cuts/needle pricks from weaves, nails, etc who got the virus thru no fault of theirs?
ReplyDelete#StopTheStigmatizationNow
See what her stupid action has gotten her into
ReplyDelete