The constitution of South Sudan gives all citizens of the country equal rights without any discrimination and people living with HIV/AIDS are an integral part of society in the country.
According to the constitution, they have the right to lead their lives normally, receive treatment, education, and work to earn a living together with healthy people.
International human rights laws and treaties also give every person the right to health and to access HIV and other healthcare services.
Human rights violations in the context of HIV include the criminalization and enactment of punitive laws that target people living with and most affected by HIV. It also includes stigma and discrimination in the workplace and in healthcare services, gender inequality, and the denial of access to HIV services.
Angelina Doki Terso, a South Sudanese health worker, has been living with HIV for the past fifteen years and devoted her life to educating people infected with AIDS. She says the disease is not an obstacle to living a normal life because she takes her medication and her health and psychological condition is very good.
“Currently I work in a hospital in South Sudan and I see some mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers, young and old, living with the AIDS virus flock to the hospital in large numbers,” Doki says, “They were infected with the virus but they will not continue treatment and receive medicines periodically because of the fear of society. So, I ask them to receive treatment periodically in order to live longer.”
Many experts say that discrimination against and stigmatization of people living with HIV is rampant in South Sudanese communities which have made many infected people afraid of disclosing their health status or even starting antiretroviral treatment.
Another South Sudanese lady living with HIV, Sarah Taban, says they face lots of challenges, are insulted and hated by the community, and are not taken to hospital when they fall sick.
“People living with HIV are facing enormous challenges in society. For example, sometimes when we get sick and ask for help, it is not given to us and they insult us badly, which makes us sometimes not disclose our status to the community,” Taban says “I think that there is great hatred towards people infected with AIDS in South Sudan by the society.”
Wilson Batali, another health worker living with HIV and who works in the HIV department at Nyakuron Health Center in Juba, says that when patients are tested and told they are HIV positive, they take the first tranche of medicines but do not return for more.
“I have found many difficulties in our society in South Sudan, especially working in this health center,” Batali explains. “Many of those who come to us to know their health status and if it turns out that they have AIDS, they take the medicines for one time only and do not come back and follow up on the treatment. I think they are afraid of society.”
According to Fatima Mohammed, a Juba resident who tested HIV positive 18 years ago, the South Sudanese society discriminates against people living with the disease yet there are many people who are HIV positive unfortunately do not know their status.
“So far the community does not want to respect people infected with AIDS in South Sudan. They are insulted and face rejection, although there are many in this community who are also infected yet they do not know their health condition,” Mohammed says. “I have now lived with HIV for about eighteen years and I take my medicines regularly and do not care about the stigma from society. Society should know that all people are equal.”
Legal activist Khansa Ibrahim says South Sudan’s constitution clearly stipulates the rights of people living with AIDS to receive treatment and lead a normal and equal life.
“The state must provide good medical cadres and hospitals for citizens to receive treatment and help simple people to receive treatment at the same levels as in private hospitals,” Ibrahim explains. “It provides the simplest things, such as medicines and medical staff in government hospitals, even if a simple citizen cannot pay the costs of treatment. It must be provided.”
The representative of the United Nations, Mahmoud Rahman, says there are many efforts in South Sudan to combat the scourge of HIV/AIDS and that number of people infected with AIDS is estimated at about 180,000 people. He adds that there are 17,000 cases recorded annually and 9,000 deaths per year and that some of them did not receive treatment.
“These numbers recorded in South Sudan for people infected with AIDS may be considered small compared to other countries in the Horn of Africa but a percentage of a fragile country such as South Sudan may consider these numbers to be very large and dangerous because the numbers also show that only about 29% of the infected know their health condition,” Rahman says.
He adds that this means that approximately 70 percent do not know about their health condition, 23 percent receive treatment and less than 20 percent do not receive treatment.
“So, we still have a long way to go to eradicate HIV/AIDS,” Rahman concluded.
According to the chairperson of the South Sudan AIDS Commission, Doctor Esterina Novello, despite making some progress, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS who are not on treatment has increased significantly.
“We have made progress in the fight against AIDS. The latest statistics of the infected people among the citizens indicated a decline in the number of infected people, according to the statistics of the year 2020,” Dr. Novello explains. “Challenges remain as usual. Despite the fact that 90 percent of the total number of people infected with AIDS, which numbered 180,000 people, 23 percent of them receive treatment. We have large numbers of women who were diagnosed with AIDS and did not receive treatment.”
She says there must be concerted efforts and collaborative work between the government and partners in order to eliminate HIV/AIDS in southern Sudan.
South Sudan health minister Elizabeth Achuei Yool says that despite the large scale of the response, there are many challenges in responding to the AIDS crisis in the country.
“I know our local culture very well and people do not respect those living with HIV/AIDS. There is discrimination and stigma towards those infected,” Minister Achuei says. “It is unfortunate that we, the government, are doing some duties to fight AIDS but it is not enough because the health system is very expensive. It can be funded from abroad only. The government must do something to take care of its people.”
She adds: “For example, if we receive medicines from abroad, we cannot demand food as well. The government must provide it to the sick because the medicines are strong and need abundant amounts of food for the infected people.”
She says that the Covid-19 pandemic has also diverted attention from HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
The challenges are many, but people living with AIDS need the support of society, government, and organizations in order to end the scourge of the virus in South Sudan.
International rights groups argue that human rights-based HIV programs should be implemented to avoid inequalities or discrimination, and when countries fail to meet the human rights requirements for people living with HIV they should be held legally accountable.