The federal government Monday warned against stigmatising those who have tested positive for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 Pandemic, Dr Sani Aliyu gave the warning in Abuja during the daily media briefing.
He said stigmatization arise from privacy and breach of confidentiality and had proven to be a setback for the process of contacts tracing and testing.
He said stigmatising victims or their families would make government efforts to end the spread of the global disease difficult.
He appealed to Nigerians to help their relatives who fall within the most vulnerables to disease, especially the elderly, to stay safe and alive.
“I will like to talk about the issues of privacy and confidentiality and request that we continue to respect the privacy of those that have been diagnosed with this disease.
“Repeated breaches of confidentiality, whether it’s by putting out the names of those that are positive in the public sphere or providing detailed description of these persons to enable them to be identified publicly, does not help the pandemic at all, if anything, it drives people underground and makes it difficult for us to be able to test people.
“It creates fear in society, it creates stigma and over all, it destroys what we are trying to do, which is trying to get on top of the pandemic.
“I must remind all of us that this is a virus that does not discriminate: it could be your neighbour, tomorrow it may be you. It does not discriminate between a rich man and a poor man. If we don’t want to be treated unkindly, we should not treat others same way.
“So my plea to all of us, including our leaders, is to respect the privacy of those that have been diagnosed with this disease. If there’s any need to break the privacy for public health purposes, it will be done by the recognised authorities,” he said.
He called on Nigerians and residents to take all the precautionary measures seriously, emphasising the need for the most vulnerable, including the aged, terminally-ill and those with respiratory illnesses to observe the advisories on social distancing, restriction on movements and observance of personal hygiene.
“I want to also talk briefly about the need to remember those key prevention measures that we have instituted, which includes physical distancing, hands disinfection and respiratory hygiene.
“These measures are particularly relevant for people who are at high risk of severe illness and this group includes the elderly, those above the age of 70, those with diabetes, those that have cancers, and those with chronic respiratory diseases.
“It is important that this group keeps away from persons who may have Coronavirus because they are the ones that can end up with severe illness,” he said.
