MONROVIA — The Nationwide AIDS and STI Management Program on the Ministry of Well being and Social Welfare has dismissed a listing circulating on social media that falsely claims to determine particular communities in Liberia with excessive HIV charges.
By Selma Lomax [email protected]
The clarification was made by Dr. Jonathan Flomo, Program Supervisor of the Nationwide AIDS and STI Management Program, throughout his look on the Ministry of Well being’s radio program Roadway to Well being on ELBC Tuesday, November 25, 2025, the place he warned that such misinformation fuels stigma and undermines progress within the nationwide HIV response.
The viral record, shared broadly on Fb, didn’t originate from any official well being company however unfold quickly on-line, producing concern in a number of communities. The Duport Highway group in Paynesville was significantly focused, as social media posts alleged that it was among the many areas with the best variety of HIV instances.
These claims triggered panic and embarrassment amongst residents, a few of whom nervous about how the misinformation would possibly form public attitudes towards them.
Through the broadcast, Dr. Flomo harassed that no breakdown of HIV knowledge per group has ever been launched by the Nationwide AIDS and STI Management Program or the Ministry of Well being. He emphasised that this system has no report of manufacturing any such record and warned that the circulation of the false doc is dangerous, not just for spreading misinformation however for reinforcing damaging stereotypes.
“What we’re seeing with this faux record is a harmful and deliberate try to stigmatize hardworking communities like Duport Highway,” Dr. Flomo stated. “No establishment beneath the Ministry of Well being has ever issued a community-by-community HIV rating, and we might by no means achieve this as a result of such practices violate moral requirements and gasoline discrimination reasonably than encourage care.”
He added that when stigma takes root, it turns into tough to appropriate public notion and even tougher to encourage individuals to hunt testing and remedy.
“Folks should perceive that whenever you label a complete group with a illness primarily based on lies, you destroy belief,” Dr. Flomo emphasised. “You make it tougher for residents to return ahead for testing, you drive them into silence, and also you weaken all the general public well being beneficial properties we have now made through the years.”
Addressing the rising considerations, Dr. Flomo stated stigmatizing a group due to a illness helps nobody. He defined that stigma pushes people into concern and isolation, delaying remedy and rising the danger of transmission. In accordance with him, the second a false label is hooked up to a group, it impacts residents socially, economically, and psychologically.
“Stigma is a barrier that kills,” he stated. “When individuals really feel judged or focused, they keep away from well being facilities, they keep away from remedy, and so they undergo in silence. That’s the reason we persistently warn the general public to not weaponize HIV to disgrace neighborhoods. Illnesses don’t discriminate, and neither ought to we.”
He additional cautioned that nobody ought to ever be mocked or profiled over their HIV standing.
“HIV isn’t an ethical verdict; it’s a medical situation,” Dr. Flomo famous. “Each time misinformation spreads, we take ten steps backward in our combat to coach the inhabitants. Our focus is nationwide and countywide knowledge as a result of our objective is prevention, remedy, and care, not group shaming and rumor-mongering.”
Dr. Flomo reminded the general public that an estimated 36,000 persons are presently dwelling with HIV in Liberia, with greater than 31,000 already receiving remedy and responding effectively. He warned that the nation’s progress could be undermined if Liberians enable misinformation to derail collective efforts.
He urged Liberians to know the hazard of spreading unverified data and reminded the general public that well being knowledge should all the time come from credible and licensed sources.
Dr. Flomo additionally appealed to residents to assist appropriate the misinformation reasonably than amplify it. He harassed that each Liberian has a job to play in defending others from stigma and discrimination by countering false narratives, selling compassion, and supporting family members who could also be dwelling with the virus.
“HIV is everybody’s enterprise, and the combat towards it requires unity, not division.” He referred to as on all Liberians to stay vigilant towards misinformation and to face towards any type of stigma directed at Duport Highway or some other group.
The Ministry of Well being, in the meantime, continues to encourage preventive measures corresponding to common testing, safer intercourse practices, and remedy adherence. The Ministry reminded the general public that nobody is proof against HIV and that defending oneself and family members stays a private accountability.
