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{
    "id": 999247,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/999247/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 596,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 124,
        "legal_name": "Samson Kegeo Ongeri",
        "slug": "samson-ongeri"
    },
    "content": "Consequently, there has been a stigma attached to these kinds of illnesses and yet this can easily pass for a normal illness without any problem of difficulty except that people misunderstand it. Earlier on today, there was an allusion to the stigma on COVID-19 disease. Stigma is a dangerous element to be adopted in any society because it ostracizes or discriminates against that individual who has mental illness of any other illnesses such as the COVID-19. Therefore, they are unwanted in the society. It is a dangerous trend. I may quote from my personal experience when we had the 1999 HIV/AIDS pandemic which is the best example one can fall back to and quote. People dreaded to hear that there was HIV/ AIDS. We had to make every single effort to demystify it as a normal disease by a virus, that could be eventually managed. It was only that the cost of drugs was extremely prohibitive because of the nature of the patented anti-retroviral drugs and, therefore, people were unable to afford them. At that time I adopted the approach that one element that one can take is to take adequate nutrition. Secondly, in the line of drugs, we had to bring their cost down by getting a special sitting in Mombasa by Parliament to be able to declare HIV/AIDS a national disaster. We were, therefore, able to draw in on the World Trade Organization (WTO) arrangement. Once a country declares a national disaster, then it can access the generic drugs. The drugs became cheaper. At that time, the patented drugs; the anti-retroviral used to cost USD1000 which was way out of reach. People were discriminated. When people knew that one had HIV/AIDS they would run away. When we reduced these prices, and said infected people could live normal lives without having to be discriminated, there was enough education and knowledge to the public that it was not transmittable by physical contact but only by other means. We were, therefore, able to break that circle of stigma and bring it back to normalcy."
}