LUCY ATTAH ENYIA; Living as an HIV Positive Person for more than 20 years, A Nigerian Woman/Wife/Mother and National Coordinator of Society for Children and Women of Hope shares her personal story and calling on Nigerian government to improve Health Systems and Care/Support for persons living with HIV/AIDS in an interview with KAYODE GOMES

Following the just concluded National HIV Prevention Conference 2016 in Nigeria, which is first of its kind and to commemorate the World AIDS Day 2016; There is need for advocates and activists to give visibility into the lives of persons living with HIV/AIDS and to bring to light the ills/challenges facing Nigeria’s health sector especially in the area of HIV Treatment, Care and Support systems. Lucy’s story and concern is one of its kind;

What has been your Motivation Advocating for Women and Children living with HIV/AIDS?

I’m motivated because I’m a mother 3 children. When I tested positive to HIV; I thought it was the end of life, later I felt if I can live and have 3 children who are all negative, then I can and should encourage others. My first son is 15 years, My second child is 12 and the little one is 4 years, so that is motivation for me and to actually continue the good work I’m doing and also having gone through stigma and discrimination when I tested positive newly, I was able to overcome it and said ok, so HIV is not death sentence and today I live to tell the story.

Your activism has been for how long?

I’ve been doing this for almost 15 years but I tested positive 20 years ago, so I’ve been doing the fight for 15 years now.

Tell us about your organization?

Society for children and women of hope is network of women actually set up to give hope to women and children living with HIV/AIDS. We advocate for rights and live positively just like every other human being in the society. We want to see a country where vulnerable groups, women & girls, children, female sex workers, injection drug users, sexual minorities, orphans and vulnerable children living with HIV/AIDS are given equal rights and privileges like every other person in the society. I personally have passion to advocate for increase of funding in our health system. 14.13% is very small, we are not able to take care of our health institution or challenge with this kind of budget. And you can see that out of the 14.13%, 3.7% is already allocated to current expenditure while 11.6% allocated for capital project, you can see that what they allocate for main issues/project is minimal. If the health budget is like this, then how much will they contribute for HIV/AIDS. For us in Nigeria, HIV response contribution is 25%, while donor driven is 75%; we really can’t achieve much with these, it is not acceptable.

My experience of child birth (2^nd Child) in U.S health care was really impressive, they bring my drugs home and that’s why people are surviving there. Here in Nigeria, people are not adhering to treatment because they have to pay a lot of Money. Some Women are poor, they cannot really access care, they end up not able to pick their drugs sometimes and then sometimes they go to the hospital but the bottle neck is too much, you will see 4 doctors attending to 400 patients, which is not professional, not possible. So this are challenges. When children are failing on drug, they won’t know because the health care systems are not equipped enough to know, that is why a lot of children die as a result of HIV related opportunist infections.

Tell us about your Kids and Husband’s HIV status

My 3 kids are negative, my 1^st (previous) husband is positive while my 2^nd (current) husband is Negative.

Tell us a little about yourself; Background

Yes… I’m Lucy Attah, a graduate of BSc in Public Admin and I’m passionate about the work I do. As a person living with HIV, I live to tell my story about living positive because being positive is not the end of life and I also live to tell the experience I had. When I had my first baby, the stigma and discrimination was so high to the extent that I was left with turned virginal for good 5hrs, I almost passed on if not for the grace of God that I’m alive today to tell the story, this is negligence. Negligence is one of the major reason we have high death rate among pregnant women in Nigeria. I’m passionate to see how HIV/AIDS can be eliminated in Nigeria, how people living with HIV/AIDS can be well taken care of because we deserve to live a productive life just like any other person.

So how has it been living with HIV for the past 20years?

Well I thank God because I’ve been able to overcome the fear and psychological trauma which I went through years back. And I use this work I do to assist other people living with HIV/AIDS because it’s not easy living with it. For me I’ve been able to overcome but what about the newly infected, it’s quite traumatising, so we are here to give them hope to tell them that if I’m able to live… you also can live, it’s not the end of life. It’s just that up till today we have many challenges; like I have been trying to do my CD4 count but not able to do because they will tell you the regiment has finished, there are many challenges not making us adhere to treatment. So many bottle necks because sometimes you go to the hospital and if you not able to do some of those test, they won’t give you your drugs and then the payment PLHIV community are paying is a big challenge. You go to hospital, they ask you to pay N5000…N3000….N2000, doctor service charge and all of that, at the end of the day it’s quit frustrating, and people don’t have money. Before, when we have full support to work on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, a lot of things were ok, you go to treatment center, you receive care, and you have someone that will follow you up on home base care. Not this days, nothing like that again. This are challenges and then those children that are positive is also a problem. No Nigerian child deserve to be born with HIV/AIDS for crying out loud! The Nigerian government should take care of our children. Government should make provision to take care of our pregnant women. A young girl seating here beside me tested positive to HIV/AIDS, she doesn’t have money, she went for antenatal care, and they said to her; “look if you don’t have money for payment go” and she left. She decide to go for tradition birth attendant and after giving birth at TBA center, the baby died after few days. So care in this country is quite frustrating. And for us as women, statistically is reported that out of the 3.5million people living with HIV in Nigeria, the women are almost 2million, and then 400,000 children living with HIV already, so it’s quite high. All this challenges should be eliminated or stopped.

 

How did you discover your HIV status?

I discovered my HIV status when I went for antenatal care, it was there I was tested positive.

What are your regrets and hopes?

As a Christian I don’t have regret, whatever condition I find myself I just thank God because God knows why. Like being positive, God has used me to touch a lot of lives he has used me to set up groups across the 37 cities in Nigeria. I see the HIV fight I do as a calling from God so I don’t have any regrets because God knows why it should be so. The only regret is that the health care system in Nigeria is zero, it is very bad. I regret to be a Nigerian for that reason, I must tell you the truth. It makes me cry day and night, I ask myself why I am a Nigerian because the care and love is not there. You go to other countries, you receive care and love but in a country like Nigeria it’s like you are forcing yourself to live. A country where the big/rich are separated from small, average and poor citizens. The rich ones take the money they have looted to take care of themselves abroad. Those that are HIV positive access their care abroad while the people here in Nigeria have to wait 8hrs in the hospital to take drugs, it’s unacceptable, and that stress shouldn’t be. My hope is for HIV to have cure, if HIV have a cure, I will be fulfilled and I also want to see that Nigerian women/mothers no longer give birth to HIV positive children and those tested positive should live a healthy life like every other person.

What are the perceptions of your family and friends about you?

My friends are wonderful, they don’t discriminate against me and then we live fine, we cook together, eat together, go to one another’s houses, it’s just normal and you know when you are living ok and healthy why will people avoid you? I’m not sick, I’m healthy. My family is informed about my status, they are aware and we are one.

Have you encountered any form of stigma/discrimination? How were you able to handle it ?

Yes I have, it was more of self-inflicted stigma. I stigmatized myself, asked myself so many questions, why me and all of that. But that was then. I have overcome it like I said earlier.

What do you think about Nigerian Gov and HIV?

Nigerian gov generally should increase funding for health, we should start from that and then Nigeria should take ownership, why do we always wait for people to come, they won’t give you the best, you continue begging and begging western donors, you go to Ministry of health, they tell you they don’t have common printer and you ask yourself if budgets allocated are not released to this people to implement. They should release budget and monitor it. Let the budget and funding get to the grassroots that needs them, let the health system work!

How has it been accessing health care services after all you already mentioned.

If not that I love Nigeria I would have just relocated abroad and leave this country for good. But the work is not yet done, I can’t leave. We need to stay and take care and assist people, so that is it. Accessing health services in Nigeria especially HIV related cases is terribly bad.

You advice to people living with HIV/AIDS

My advice is that you live your life. I’ve been living with HIV for more than 20 years now. Just live your life normal and try as much as possible to get yourself empowered with information and economic empowerment so that you can live a good life for yourself and your children.

Advice for those that are Negative

Remain negative by taking precautions because it’s not easy being positive though, so remain negative and if you cannot abstain from sex which is one of the most common transmission mode, use condom. Because the challenges of living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria is not easy to cope with, it’s quite frustrating.

Tell us about the Aspirin Social Innovative Award

Because I’m an ASHOKA fellow, I was nominated by ASHOKA and I hope to get the Award because I’m qualified for it, I’ve been working for it and I pray that I get the award, it comes with voting. So we need people to vote in other to support the work we do. The deadline for voting is Friday, 2^nd December 2016. You can find the voting link below and I really appreciate all those that will take time out to vote.

Aspirin Social Innovative Award; Please Vote….. WOMEN AND CHILDREN OF HOPE, Nigeria. Combat stigmatization and discrimination of women and children with HIV/AIDS by providing education, health care services and economic empowerment. Please click the link below to vote, every single vote counts….

http://aspirin-social-awards.org/nominations/2016-women-and-children-of-hope