Durban - Before children reach Grade 6, they need to be exposed to measures to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination in classrooms, research into a large sample of pupils in nine southern African countries has argued.
While only 8.9 percent of South African Grade 6 pupils would avoid or shun a close friend who revealed that they were HIV positive, one in five believed that HIV-positive children should not be allowed to continue to attend school.
Research authors Brendan Maughan-Brown, of the University of Cape Town, and Nic Spaull, of Stellenbosch University, explained that stigma held the risk of bullying for HIV-infected children, and that the fear of stigma affected whether children living with HIV wanted to go to school.
Measures to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination among children were especially important at schools in rural areas and in poorer communities, and should focus on correcting the misconceptions that HIV could be transmitted via casual contact.
The study revealed that as many as 42 percent of Grade 6 pupils in Zimbabwe, and 37 percent of Grade 6 pupils in Lesotho believed that HIV-positive children should not be allowed to continue to attend school.
The study was published in the PLOS ONE journal last month, and spanned nine countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, discrimination appeared to be concentrated in rural areas, and among the poor.
In Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland pupils attending more affluent schools were less likely to report discrimination than their peers in poorer schools.
“Our results indicate that reductions in HIV-related discrimination among children may be achieved through interventions to correct these misconceptions around casual contact,” the study stated.
Spaull said that while it was encouraging that only 8.9 percent of South African Grade 6 pupils would avoid or shun close friends who revealed that they were HIV positive, it was “disconcerting” and even “alarming” that one in five believed that HIV-positive children should not be allowed to continue to attend school.
The Mercury