From Senegal to Kenya, the emergency is no longer just confined and seeking treatment for Covid-19. Across sub-Saharan Africa, authorities have taken action against the stigmatization of those suspected of being sick and of caregivers. "The coronavirus is not a shameful disease," they repeat.

This is necessary since people suspected of having contracted the virus are singled out at work, in their neighborhood and even in their homes and on social networks.

A month ago, Fatou, a Senegalese woman in her twenties, who prefers not to give her real first name, had the bitter experience. After being in contact with a patient, the young woman - who immediately confined herself to her room - was ostracized from her neighborhood.

"Messages have circulated on social networks, with my first name, last name and address," said the girl, who does not even want to specify in which city of Senegal she lives. Then, young people in the neighborhood started spreading lies, claiming that she "had contracted the virus by sleeping with whites," she said.

Fatou, who never left her room before being tested negative, still had to spend two weeks in isolation in a hotel, when she had no symptoms. Doctors following her had received "anonymous calls," she said. This at least allowed him to breathe, "far from the gossip".

Daily discrimination

Health and research professionals are also victims of stigma. In Gabon, Jocelyn - again a borrowed first name -, a biologist who tests suspected cases in Libreville, suffers "this discrimination every day".

With his team, he tries to remain discreet when they go into the homes, even if it means putting themselves in danger. "We team up with our suits inside rather than on the porch," he says.

"The Gabonese are panicked at the idea of ​​coming to their home", so we are trying to organize tests "elsewhere, in neutral places", he says.

Because the situation can quickly escalate. In the neighboring country, in Cameroon, the second person who tested positive was expelled by its owner, says Professor Yap Boum, epidemiologist in Yaoundé.

Stigma is not the prerogative of Africa and has been seen everywhere else, he nuances.

Racist acts in China

Indeed, Africans living in China have themselves been victims of stigma and racist acts. In early April, posters "forbidden to blacks" have, for example, multiplied in the province of Canton.

Africans were also chased from their homes and forced to sleep on the street because no hotel accepted them. This surge of racist acts and speech began after five Nigerians from Canton, who tested positive for Covid-19, escaped their quarantine. The case sparked an outcry and caused a barrage of xenophobic comments on the Internet.

To read >> "We are treated like the virus": in a Chinese city, Africans driven from their homes

"We must take into account the psychological aspect if we want to win this battle," says Yap Boum. Especially since the caregivers are not spared. "They are doubly stigmatized," he explains. At work, where staff from other departments sometimes refuse to "speak to them or use the same toilet as them" and, at home, where they are sometimes "seen as plague victims".

Cameroonian nurses were left by their husbands, driven from their homes because they worked in coronavirus units, ensures the psychiatrist Laure Menguene Mviena, in charge of the psychological response to Covid-19 in Yaoundé.

Public awareness

To deal with this discrimination, which also targets people who have contracted Covid and who have left hospital, the African authorities and NGOs are emphasizing awareness-raising. The management of the epidemic depends on it because, fearing to be ostracized from their community, people carrying the virus could renounce being tested, wearing a mask or isolating themselves so as not to contaminate their loved ones.

# COVID19 threatens everyone, without any distinction! Everyone is concerned and must respect preventive measures.
It is also important to show empathy for those affected by the disease. Now is the time for solidarity, not stigma. https://t.co/QrYcZgL7Uu

- WHO Central African Republic (@OMSCentrafrique) April 13, 2020

Often, awareness is raised by the testimony of people healed after having contracted Covid-19. In Côte d'Ivoire, a young woman said on television that she had been rejected by her relatives after being found positive for the disease. "Avoid the stigma of people infected with coronavirus. Stigma is much painful and kills faster than the disease itself," she said.

Ivorian footballer Franck Kessiéa participated in an awareness campaign launched by the Ivorian Red Cross. "No one is responsible for the #coronavirus # COVID19. Let us stand in solidarity with the sick," he said in a short video posted on social networks.

Ivorian footballer Franck Kessié says "no" to the stigma.

"No one is responsible for #coronavirus # COVID19."

"Let us be united with the sick." @ CICR_Afrique @CICR_fr @CroixCote @BorisBle @ACMilanFR #Italie #CotedIvoire # Team225 pic.twitter.com/2PSqdYubsz

- Steven Anderson (@SAndersonICRC) April 19, 2020

For its part, the UNICEF office for West and Central Africa has published on its site a "mini-guide to avoid the stigma linked to the coronavirus". The UN agency for the protection of children calls in particular to "adopt positive language and stress the importance of taking effective preventive measures".

With AFP

The summary of the France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR