The ManicaPost
Wendy Nyakurerwa-Matinde Editor
STIGMATISATION is sour, yet humanity has a long history of the vice when infectious and contagious diseases strike.
Just as we saw fear, stigma and ignorance raging through the world due to the HIV epidemic during the 1980s, with patients stereotyped, the world is again being swallowed by the stigmatisation monster in the face of Covid-19.
Those who have been subjected to stigma will tell you that the vice invokes feelings of inadequacy and being unwanted.
Therefore, as the world grapples with containing Covid-19, it is crucial to address stigmatisation before it takes root so that measures are more effective.
Stigmatisation complicates infectious disease management as it gives some people the false comfort that it is “their disease”, one that is incapable of infecting “us”.
In this case, American President Mr Donald Trump has labelled Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus”. It is very unfortunate that this reckless utterance has been readily adapted not only by a section of the American people, but by people from other parts of the world, Zimbabwe included.
In my opinion, this explains the lackadaisical approach that has been adopted by the bulk of the Zimbabwean population as Government tries to combat the virus.
Most people in the informal sector are yet to take heed of President Mnangagwa’s regulations and are going about their business without taking the necessary precautions.
This “them versus us” mentality is the reason why people from across the world are literally running away from the Chinese, and now the widely affected Italians. They are perceived as carriers of the virus, agents of contagion.
This again is the reason why most black people had been unashamedly looking the other side, obliviously labelling coronavirus a “white people’s disease”.
Yet Covid-19 is blind to race, nationality or ethnicity. It is not selective of the skin of the person it infects — black, white, brown or yellow are good enough. As long good personal hygiene is not practised, or one gets in contact with the virus, Covid-19 can be transmitted to the next person.
While it is common among humans to blame foreigners and not locals when infectious diseases get to their shores, the stereotyping contributes to irrational fear and stigma.
For this reason, some people across the world are obviously hesitant to share their condition with their relatives and communities. Imagine, after sharing such news, then one is immediately seen as an outcast and can no longer share the communal sink.
What is the significance, for example, of trying to identify patient zero in affected countries, or the countries yet to record any Covid-19 cases, during this global pandemic?
In the same vein, as Prince Charles tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, the BBC repeatedly pointed out that, “It is not clear who infected Prince Charles.”
Why should it matter who infected the Prince of Wales? What could possibly happen to that “culprit” if he or she was to be identified? And why not focus on his contacts after the infection or as to curb the spread of the virus?
The media, therefore, both local and international, have the duty of telling the Covid-19 story in a responsible way.
While the confusion, anxiety, fear and panic among the public is understandable, these factors fuel unwarranted harmful stereotyping.
Stigmatisation therefore looms large in global health because it discourages those with infectious diseases from seeking medical care. It engenders fear of those who have the disease and causes prejudice against them.
In light of this, as the country’s authorities invest heavily in fighting the virus, there is need to also invest in neutralising stigma so that the patients, their families, and their communities are not afflicted by both the virus and the stigma that accompanies it.
More efforts should be placed in changing the perceptions of the public towards Covid-19 and the affected individuals. This will aid the effectiveness of preventive programmes to contain Covid-19.
The world does not want a situation in which infected persons are shunned, even after they have fully recovered from the disease. This has been the case in modern India, which is still coping with stigma towards leprosy patients.
But Covid-19 has only awakened the stigmatisation monster, it is not a new phenomenon.
Sub-Saharan Africa has had a history of epidemics during the past century, among them outbreaks of cholera and malaria.
Mischievous elements in the developed world have gone on to label these as “African diseases’”
The influenza pandemics are also a good example of how the world chose to focus on a group of people, instead of fighting the pandemic. Think of the late 1880s’ Russian flu, the Spanish flu, the Asian flu, the Hong Kong flu, and 2009’s Mexican flu.
Is the influenza any different when it is contracted by a French citizen, or when an American citizen is diagnosed with cholera, or even when a Zimbabwean is infected by Covid-19?
The answer is no, obviously, therefore tracing the origin becomes irrelevant.
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