In MENA, Peer Support Helps Break Stigma

“A pillar—a pillar of life.”

That’s how Tariq El Alaoui summed up the importance of mental health in HIV care when Family Planning News Network (FPNN) Community Reporter Roger Anthony Granizo Abril spoke with him at the fifth HIV Research for Prevention Conference (HIVR4P) in Lima, Peru.

Tariq works at the Morocco-based NGO MENA Community supporting the various needs of people living with HIV in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

He discussed what he calls a “double stigma” for those men who have sex with men (MSM) who are also living with HIV. In numerous studies, these individuals often identify themselves as having experienced negative emotions, such as guilt and shame, as a result of their HIV diagnosis.

For that reason, Tariq says mental health support is necessary in HIV care.

He acknowledged the benefits of initiatives providing people with access to external psychologists and other formal mental health touch points. However, these can’t be the only mechanisms in place to address the emotional well-being of people living with HIV.

“We need that support,” he said. “But we also need peer educators.”

Morocco’s MENA Community is just one organization involved with a specialized “big brother” program connecting individuals living with HIV to each other.

Through these connections, people across the country have been able to articulate their journeys—as a whole and with as much or as little detail as desired—with others going through similar situations. Tariq says this help people foster a sense of belonging and it has overall improved the mental health of those living with HIV in the country.