Discriminatory attitudes towards PLHIV higher in rural communities — Ghana Statistical Service

About eight in every 10 Ghanaians aged 15 to 49, who have heard about HIV, have discriminatory attitudes towards people living with the disease, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has said. 

The percentage with discriminatory attitudes was higher in rural areas, which had 85.5 per cent for females and 78.1 per cent for males compared to urban females with 73.4 per cent and males 67.3 per cent.

The data identifies eight in every 10 Ghanaian females, representing 78.4 per cent, and seven in every 10 Ghanaian males, representing 72.1 per cent, of the defined ages as guilty of the act.

These were contained in a press release issued by the GSS last Friday (March 1) to commemorate Zero Discrimination Day, which is observed annually on March 1 to promote equality, inclusion and diversity while raising awareness about the harmful impact of discrimination worldwide.

This year’s theme is: “To protect everyone’s health, protect everyone’s rights”. Discriminatory attitudes are the inclination that children living with HIV should not attend school with children who are HIV-negative or would not buy fresh vegetables from a shopkeeper who has HIV. 

Statistics

Per regional break down, four in five females aged 15 to 49 in eight regions had discriminatory attitudes towards people living with HIV.

The regions, (87.0 per cent), Savannah (86.8 per cent), Oti (86.4 per cent), North East (85.9 per cent), Northern (85.7 per cent) Upper West (83.8 per cent), Western North (84.4 per cent) and Upper East (80.1per cent).

On the other hand, four in five males aged 15 to 49 in the North East (85.2 per cent), Northern (83.1 per cent) and Oti (81.5 per cent), had discriminatory attitudes towards people living with HIV. 

Education and wealth quintiles

The release said persons with more education were less likely to show discriminatory attitudes towards people with HIV as the percentage of persons with discriminatory attitudes who had no education was more than twice that of persons with secondary education or more.

It said discriminatory attitudes among females aged 15 to 49 ranged from 91.5 per cent for those with no education, decreased through primary, 89.3 per cent; secondary, 78.9 per cent then more than secondary, 44.8 per cent.

“Across type of sex, discriminatory attitudes among males aged 15 to 49 with no education is 90.0 per cent, compared to 86.8 per cent for those with primary education, 73.6 per cent for secondary education and 43.4 per cent among those with secondary or more education,” it added.

The release said discriminatory attitudes towards people with HIV decreased with wealth, explaining that it was highest among females aged 15 to 49 with the lowest wealth quintile, 91.3 per cent, followed by those in the second, 88.1 per cent, middle 83.3 per cent; fourth, 73.5 per cent and those in the highest quintile, 63.7 per cent, recording the lowest percentage.

For males, 84.9 per cent in the lowest quintile have the highest discriminatory attitudes towards people with HIV compared to those in the second, 79.5 per cent; middle, 73.8 per cent; fourth, 71.3 per cent and the highest quintile, 52.7 per cent.