AHF Sparks Bold Conversation on HIV Stigma at Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital

By Evans Jona

MUTARE – In a decisive step towards dismantling stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) on Tuesday convened a sensitization meeting with senior ward head nurses at Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital in Mutare.

The meeting, organized to confront persistent harmful attitudes in healthcare settings, created a safe space for health professionals to openly discuss the often-unspoken behaviors that discourage people living with HIV (PLHIV) from seeking care.

Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+) Provincial Coordinator, Mr Moses Chananuka, who was invited to facilitate the session, delivered a hard-hitting presentation on the extent and impact of HIV-related stigma in the country’s health sector.

“Stigma is not always about what you say — sometimes it’s in the way you look at a patient, in the hesitation before offering a service, in the assumptions you make about how someone contracted the virus,” Chananuka told the gathering.

Referencing findings from the recently released Zimbabwe Stigma Index 2.0, Chananuka said stigma in the country remained alarmingly high, with 69.7% of respondents in 2023 reporting that they had experienced one or more forms of HIV-related stigma, up from 65.5% in 2014.

“This is not just a number. Behind every percentage point is a person who walked into a clinic and left feeling devalued, isolated, or humiliated,” he said. “As health workers, we have the power to either heal with our words and actions — or wound.”

Chananuka outlined several forms of stigma commonly experienced in health facilities, including finger-pointing, name-calling, making moral assumptions about patients, unjustified delays in service provision, and breaches of confidentiality. He warned that such behaviors jeopardies treatment outcomes and drive people away from essential care services.

“When we stigmatize, patients start defaulting on medication, avoid follow-ups, and some develop advanced HIV disease because they fear judgment more than the virus itself,” he said. “This has a direct effect on viral suppression rates, and ultimately, on epidemic control targets.”

The presentation also explored the causes of stigma in healthcare settings, including misinformation about HIV transmission, negative media portrayals of PLHIV, and discriminatory attitudes towards key populations such as sex workers, men who have sex with men, and people who use drugs.

Chananuka called on the ward head nurses and senior staff to lead by example in creating a compassionate, non-judgmental environment for all patients.

“You are the gatekeepers of dignity in this institution,” he emphasized. “If you set the right tone in your wards, your teams will follow. Remember, care for the sick is both a clinical duty and a moral obligation.”

Quoting from 1 John 4:8, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”, Chananuka urged the healthcare workers to embrace compassion and empathy as central to their daily practice.

In response, AHF and ZNNP+ recommended a series of action points including regular stigma-sensitization training for staff, strict enforcement of patient confidentiality under the Patient Charter, integration of peer navigators into health facilities, and the establishment of safe disclosure spaces for PLHIV.

 

At the close of the session, Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital’s senior ward head nurses made a collective pledge to uphold patient dignity, confront stigma, and protect confidentiality in all clinical interactions.

Speaking after the meeting, one of the senior nurses admitted the session had been an eye-opener. “Sometimes you don’t realize how small actions can damage a person’s confidence to seek treatment. Today we’ve been reminded of our role not just as caregivers, but as protectors of human dignity,” she said.

AHF hailed the sensitization meeting as a vital platform for fostering inclusive healthcare services and vowed to continue facilitating such engagements in health facilities across the province.

“We’re not just treating HIV,” Chananuka concluded. “We’re treating a system, a culture, and a mindset. And if we do it right — we’ll save lives, not just medically, but emotionally and spiritually too.”

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