According to Serge Doumong Yotta, executive director of Affirmative Action, LGBT people are discriminated upon and stigmatized in health facilities across the country, despite the declassification of homosexuality as a disease by the WHO.
LGBT people still face stigma and discrimination in health settings in their treatment of HIV / AIDS. Yet our country is among the most affected by HIV / AIDS, “says Serge Doumong Yotta.
While the national HIV / AIDS prevalence rate is 2.7%, it remains higher among LGBT people. Affirmative Action reports that the HIV / AIDS prevalence rate is 20.6% among men who have sex with men nationally. 45% in Yaoundé and 24% in Douala.
To help LGBT people, the NGO Affirmative Action, has just published a guide to help improve the service for health providers in a context where homosexuality is still penalized. “Discrimination sometimes begins at the warden level, with a look from the nursing staff, an inappropriate word or a remark about the clothing,” he added. For Cameroonian pro LGBT activists, “people should not be judged by their clothing.” Because they think, “clothing does not define sexual orientation.”
The guide presented to the media on Thursday contains several testimonies from patient witnesses who reveal the stigma and discrimination against LGBT people. It also includes advice to health care providers who received scrolls on Thursday.
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