I Was Made To Believe I Was Positive But I�m Negative � Joyce Insists

HIV and AIDS ambassador, Joyce Dzidzor Mensah says she was made to believe she was HIV positive although she had not contracted the disease. According to her, after being ejected from her house because she was being stigmatised based on the fact that people thought she was positive, she had no other option than to find solace among the Network of Persons Living with HIV (NAP+). Ms Mensah, a divorcee with two children on Monday revealed that she was HIV negative, a claim the Ghana AIDS Commission and NAP+ has denied. Ms Mensah however, insists she is negative but had to parade herself as HIV positive to save the lives of women living with the disease. �I didn�t lie�I was stigmatised base on the fact that people thought I was positive. And being ejected from my house I didn�t have anywhere else to go than to go to those who are positive. I was made to believe that I was positive so I had to do what I did to save others. All that I lied about was about my status and that is why I brought out this just to apologise,� she said in an interview on Joy FM Tuesday morning. Ms Mensah�s ex-husband has however denied her claims insisting that Joyce is HIV positive. He said in an interview on ABN TV that his ex-wife was denying her HIV status now to protect her two children from stigmatization. But in a rebuttal, Joyce said, �He says so, but I�m saying I�m negative. It is never done anywhere for somebody to stand somewhere to disclose somebody�s health status�I am a normal human being and people have to respect me and accept me as such�no one should impose it on me.�