Many HIV patients are not respected as humans or patients in our society. They are discriminated in schools, workplaces even in healthcare facilities. It is very ironic to find out that health professionals who are supposed to be taking care of these patients are the very same people who are participating in the discrimination of this marginalized group. In case you want to learn about how a doctor-patient confidentiality protects a patient you can visit this site. Several cases of discrimination in health centers have been widely reported by the World Health Organization. Below you can read about examples of discrimination cases.
1. Disrespecting the patient’s confidentiality. This has occurred in situations where health providers cannot keep the medical status of patients’ a secret. Some medical practitioners reveal the HIV/AIDS exam results of their patient without their consent to other people or family members.
2. Refuse to offer medical care. Some HIV patients have reported cases where their doctors refused to continue treating them when they found out they were HIV positive.
3. Neglect a patient. This is a problem that has been seen affecting most of the health centers. Just because a nurse is afraid of HIV, they try to avoid treating a patient’s wounds the moment they discover his HIV status.
4. Putting HIV patients in different room In some health centers HIV patients are advised to wait or be treated in different rooms than the other patients. This may make one feel discriminated. Sometimes many witness an anxious nurse ensuring they put on a glove before attending HIV patients but she seems more comfortable without gloves when she examines a patient without HIV.
5. Verbal abuse and gossiping. In many cases HIV patients hear other people gossiping about their HIV status. This greatly affects the life of patients because it can cause a lot of stress.
6. Referring patients for HIV testing without counseling. It is essential to give a guidance and counseling to a patient before doing the test. If this isn’t done, the patient may be too stressed and anxious.
Discrimination in health care facilities affects the life of HIV patients as well as other patients with other conditions.
