Chronicle Editor
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Health Reporter
THE country has recorded 4 442 Covid-19 recoveries but sadly, only a handful are willing to share their inspirational experiences about the pandemic which has claimed 150 lives.
Dr Ruth Labode, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health, who tested positive for Covid-19 early this month, has been comfortable with openly sharing her status and journey to recovery. The country’s third coronavirus patient Mr Saul Sakudya and the Permanent Secretary for Finance and Economic Development, Mr George Guvamatanga are among the prominent citizens who have also opened up.
The reason behind that -stigma- could easily explain why thousands succumbed to HIV not so long ago, a disease which can be easily contained by adhering to antiretroviral medication.
No one wanted to talk about HIV then and thousands who could have been saved died.
Stigma may now, just as it did then, cause unnecessary deaths.
Covid-19 has not only destabilised economies the world over, but it is also likely to leave many people mentally and emotionally scarred.
Of note is the fact that despite being one of the most educated nations in the world, Zimbabweans still fail to accept that Covid-19 like other diseases can be easily treated and contained.
The same educated people who fail to adhere to lockdown conditions in the name of making ends meet are the same who ruthlessly label, shame, discriminate and ridicule those who get infected.
Unbeknown to them, stigma can result in more severe health problems and difficulties in controlling a disease outbreak.
Stigma can also drive people to hide the illness to avoid discrimination, prevent people from seeking health care immediately and discourage them from adopting healthy behaviours, thereby exposing others to infection.
Experts say stigmatised individuals may experience isolation, depression, anxiety, or public embarrassment.
Only 2, 5 percent of those infected have died in Zimbabwe, a fact which calls for a different approach to Covid-19.
Some of those who struggle to speak out about their victories are confident and competent professionals who feel the pandemic has reduced them to a bunch of mum survivors.
The World Health Organisation (Who) has confirmed that the Covid-19 outbreak has provoked social stigma and discriminatory behaviours against people perceived to have been in contact with the virus.
One of those is Bheki*, a health care practitioner at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) who kept his test results secret from his family and friends as he feared being labelled.
“I left like a dying leper walking among the living, all masked up and trying to stay away from people!” exclaims Bheki recalling his recent battle with Covid-19.
He is one of the more than 480 health workers who contracted the pandemic in Zimbabwe and recovered.
Like the others, he cannot freely speak about it to avoid being stigmatised.
Bheki, a qualified health care worker who has freely spoken about everything related to health in the past, says his Covid-19 experience was too traumatic. He may need years to even tell his family and friends that he once contracted it.
“Being a frontline worker, it was bound to happen but when I contracted the most dreaded disease of 2020, I felt like I would die. As a health worker who is expected to be mentally mature about these issues, I braved the bad news but I promised never to tell anyone even after I recovered because I knew people would not take it lightly,” he says.
According to Bheki when his test results came back, his seniors at UBH were supportive and helped him through his secret 14-day self-isolation.
“The initial testing itself was very painful,” he said. “The nasal swab used was very thick and as brave as I am, I almost screamed when they inserted it into my nose. I still do not understand why the testing must be that painful, it still boggles my mind.”
He adds that the pain he felt testing made him change his whole perspective on Covid-19.
Two days later his results came positive and that is when he realised he would suffer the same stigma meted on everyone whose status was known.
He said:
“I am a very social and open person but I was trying to think, how will they react or treat me, would life change after disclosing this? That’s the greatest psychological trauma because basically people have viewed this to be a deadly disease.”
Bheki had to exercise rigorously, eat ginger and lemon daily and eat healthy while awaiting his second test results and during that time, his family and friends thought he was taking a sabbatical from his demanding work.
Besides the mental trauma that he went through, Bheki says the process of testing for Covid-19 should be reason enough to scare people from breaking lockdown conditions.
Unlike Bheki, Mellisa, a renowned lawyer, says her colleagues have been the worst in instilling feelings of shame and guilt.
She too, contracted the disease and managed to recover after self-isolation.
“I wish I could gladly share my story with members of the public but I fear it may reap more stigma as my own colleagues still think coming to work is a great danger though I recovered from Covid-19 weeks ago. The stigma is real and it’s sad to note that people will end up stopping to seek medical care and die at home simply because they do not want to be labelled as carriers of the pandemic,” she says.
“People including colleagues who are not doctors have their own theories and according to them I was supposed to self-isolate for longer despite recommendations from qualified personnel. Some even demanded to see a copy of my results proving that I am negative, the attitude is so sickening.” -@thamamoe.
Online Reporter