SAD BUT TRUE HIV stigma and discrimination still rife in Botswana
Yet HIV should no longer be seen as anything major Now single mothers living with HIV forced to conceal their status
An advocate for people living with HIV/ AIDS, Neo Simon, has encouraged single mothers living with HIV/AIDS to stay strong when raising their children. Simon, a single mother who has been living with HIV for 14 years now said in an interview that the current state of single mothers living with HIV in the country is disheartening. National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency’s(NAPHA) national HIV and AIDS estimations for 2019 indicate that 95 percent of pregnant mothers were on ARV treatment.
Simon shared that HIV positive single mothers need support because most of the time they find it emotionally draining to parent their children single-handedly.
Despite the challenges presented by living with HIV, there is a breed of women who are determined to go all out and be there for their children, which conduct she said, motivates others who might have been struggling with the same challenge. According to Simon, single mothers living with HIV often worry about their ability to provide for their children at the same time dealing with a chronic illness. “From my experience it is not easy, one needs to be mentally strong to endure this but as the saying goes, ‘strength of a woman!’ “We forge ahead and make sure that our children are well taken care of, and most importantly we teach them about HIV and other diseases,” Simon said. Simon has observed that single mothers living with HIV find it difficult to go into romantic relationships because Batswana are still not educated enough when it comes to issues of HIV. She said Batswana still do not want to associate with people with HIV. Sadly, this leads to more women lying about their status or not disclosing it to their partners. She said that in the long run this causes further spread of the virus. “Stigma and discrimination are still rife in communities across the country,” Simon said, adding that worst of all, some women end up being abused by their boyfriends just because of their status. Simon said the role children can play in the lives of their parents who are diagnosed HIV positive is to accept them because without acceptance they cannot do anything. They must also offer support and remind their parents to take medication on time, go for checkups and maintain a positive lifestyle in general as well as show them love and compassion, not pity.
She encouraged all single mothers living with HIV to accept their status, follow doctors’ orders, love themselves and keep a positive mindset.