By Starphel Sithole
Among other factors associated with non-adherence for antiretroviral therapy (ART); is the fear of disclosing an HIV status to prevent stigma and discrimination. Stigma and discrimination can be facilitated by a health infrastructure whose service space is not private enough to conceal the status of a person living with HIV. People Living with HIV request action to addressing the problem of lack of privacy in health facilities where it exists.
Nkhulambe Health Center, one of the facilities that was hit by Cyclone Freedy in Phalombe district, where an estimated 75% of the hospital infrastructure was swept away by water and covered in mud led to the relocation of the facility to a primary school premise where services are offered in tents to continue offering health services to the communities surrounding the facility.
Speaking to Dixy Khando the facility in charge for Nkhulambe during the data collection exercise he said there is limited space in the tents which affects the privacy and confidentiality of People Living with HIV that access services at the facility.
’Though that the ART tent is far from where general Outpatient Department (OPD) Services are offered, these tents are quite small in size which leads to some people living with HIV waiting outside tents where they get exposed to every eye. Some people are not comfortable standing outside on the que for fear of having their HIV status known which is bringing fears of treatment interruption’ Khando lamented.
Hastings Makondetsa, a Data collector for JONEHA CLM at Nkhulambe Health Center said that there is a need for a more spacious infrastructure for ART services at the facility.
‘I have encountered a number of people living with HIV complaining of openly standing on ques because the tent cannot accommodate all. Some have even gone back home for fear of being exposed to other people. There is need for a spacious ART room and the whole facility in general before we register more defaulters at our health facility.
Regarding the Right to Confidentiality and Privacy, Part 5 of the 2018 HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Management) Act states that an individual living with HIV has the right to privacy regarding information about his/her condition. It further states that every health care provider has an obligation to maintain strict confidentiality while managing any medical information pertaining to an individual living with HIV.
