Five reasons why we need to stop COVID-19 stigma

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected millions of people worldwide. As at May 20, 5 million people had contracted the COVID-19 virus. Like many epidemics and pandemics such as Ebola and HIV, this pandemic has been faced with serious stigmatization. Persons who test positive alongside contact tracers and frontline health workers are being stigmatized by the society and their family. This situation has serious repercussions that if not abated, then will exacerbate the spread of the disease and lead to more mortality. This article explains five reasons why we need to stop the COVID-19 stigma.

Voluntary testing

One major reason why we need to stop COVID-19 stigma is that, it can significantly affect voluntary testing. Given the fact that there is an increase in the cases of asymptomatic cases, voluntary testing becomes imperative and necessary for the early detection and management of such cases. However, here lies the case that people who get tested are shunned by the family, friends and the larger society. Even those who have been declared to have fully recovered from the virus are not welcomed back to the homes and society. This situation demoralizes and discourages people from desiring to know their status. Hence, voluntary testing will diminish drastically.

Voluntary disclosure of status

Another reason why we need to avoid COVID-19 stigma is that it has the potential to discourage persons who have been tested from voluntarily disclosing their status to the public. Voluntary disclosure of status is supposed to serve as a medium to let people know that the disease is real and also to encourage people that they can recover from the disease. In places like the United States of America and the United Kingdom, prominent and public figures have come out publicly to disclose their status to the entire populace as a way to encourage them. A typical example includes movie actor, Idris Elba and the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. However, in the situation where the society stigmatizes against persons who have the virus, then there is a high tendency that they will be discouraged to disclose the status to their families and friends. In extreme situations, people who have the virus out of frustration and anger as a result of the stigma from the society will intentionally keep their status to themselves and infect others.

Contact tracing

Contact tracing which has been identified as a key measure in ensuring early detection of cases and controlling the spread of the virus is likely to be negatively impacted if we do not avoid stigmatizing persons with COVID-19 and their relations. In contact tracing, the public health worker is supposed to trace the contacts of a case, screen them and get a sample for testing. However, stigmatization discourages contacts from divulging accurate information about the people they have come into contact with, their travel history and whether they show any of the signs and symptoms of the COVID-19. There is too much fear and anxiety that should they provide accurate information and they are tested positive, then they will have a dose of stigma from the society and even from their families. Sometimes, these contacts may behave aggressively and hostile towards the contact tracers. There have been rumors of contact tracer having received threatening messages. All of this impedes the contact tracing process.

Health seeking behaviour

Another reason why we need to avoid COVID-19 stigma is that it can affect the health seeking behaviour of the general population. In this period of the COVID-19, many believe that self-medication rather than going to the health facility is the safest measure. This is based on the assumption that, when you go to the health facility for health care, then you may be at risk of contracting the disease. Therefore, once we cannot confirm whether or not an individual has the disease, then that individual would be stigmatized to protect others. This usually happens when people visit health facilities that are known to have recorded some cases of the COVID-19. Consequently, antenatal attendance will reduce significantly; OPD attendance will also reduce significantly. Overall, the health seeking behaviour is likely to become poorer because of the stigma associated with the COVID-19.

Discrimination

The last reason why we need to avoid COVID-19 stigma is that it can perpetuate discrimination. Discrimination can be understood as the unfair or unjust treatment of people because of who they are or because they possess some peculiar characteristics. In the face of stigmatization, people also become discriminated by their family, friends, work environment and their community. There have been reports of people whose employers have terminated their contracts even after recovering from the disease. In some cases, persons who have recovered from the COVID-19 are prevented by their families to be within their proximal area. This is very challenging and can even lead to self-stigmatization (where the individual stigmatizes himself). Such discrimination can in the long run affect the mental health of individuals who have tested for the virus, those who have recovered, and frontline workers alike.

In summary, persons who have the tested for the virus, those who have recovered and frontline health workers face a lot of stigmatization from their family, friends and the larger society. This stigmatization can affect voluntary testing, disclosure of status, contact tracing, health seeking behaviour and even lead to discrimination. COVID-19 is no respecter of persons; it could me, it could be you. Let’s come together and end COVID-19 stigma for good.

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