ETHIOPIA: Suffering of HIV-positive women on film

For the first time ever, Ethiopia's state-run television earlier this week broadcast a documentary depicting the discrimination and stigma encountered by local women living with HIV/AIDS.

The Ethiopian minister of state for women’s affairs, Gifti Abasiya, told the UN news service PlusNews: "This film showed women who have been stigmatised. The more we know about stigma and what it means to women, the better we will be able to fight it."

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a crippling effect on Ethiopia, where, according to government estimates, some 2.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.

Around 1,500 copies of the film "Siwir Enba" (Hidden Tears) have been made for distribution to NGOs tackling HIV/AIDS throughout the country.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews, Children,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]