After several attempts by different doctors to cure him he thought of committing suicide. “The doctors all said I should get tested for HIV, but at that time people were so ignorant and could not believe there was a disease called HIV. My parents did not want to hear about HIV. In fact they insisted that there was someone bewitching me,” he said.
Church blamed
“I had lost weight because I had no appetite and could not eat. The pimples where now developing into wounds and I was rotting alive. I visited my brother in Harare. He took me to his private doctor at Machipisa shopping centre where I was tested for HIV. I was not shocked when the result was positive because I had heard about it before. I was counselled and put on treatment without the knowledge of our parents. My brother told them I had seen a powerful prophet and convinced them to leave me in Harare.
Mnangatira never went back to the rural areas. He became strong and found a job at a milling company. At the workplace he met with a lot of discrimination against people living with HIV and kept his status secret.
Even the church openly victimised HIV-positive people, he said, adding that ‘it forced me out of local Pentecostal church which I was attending’. At that time HIV prevalence was around 27% and there were high numbers of people dying of HIV-related illnesses – but society was largely in denial.
Certificates
Former Health Minister Timothy Stamps, who is now the health adviser to the President, says stigma coming from the churches – during those days contributed to the country’s failure to reduce the spread of HIV. “The Catholic Church would not allow any condom to be on display. In the hospital or any surrounding area, but that was the only method we had at that time of preventing the spreading of the pandemic,” said Stamps. They thought HIV and AIDS was a moral issue, whether by intention or by accident. They blamed the victims for what they called bad behaviour.
To fight the stigma the Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS Activist Union Community Trust (ZHAAUCT) has started scouting for people living with HIV who have disclosed their status and been taking medication for more than 10 years. The programme was launched recently at St Paul’s Msami hospital in Mrewa, where the trust issued certificates to more than 10 people who have been taking ARVs for more than 10 years. The president, Stanley Takaona, said it would spread to the whole country, where they will be identifying and honouring such people. “We want to be ambassadors of HIV. It’s no longer a killer disease as it used to be.
“We want to help our friends who have no information about the pandemic and encourage them to come out and get treated. ARVs are there and there is no need to die. As you can see I am very fit and if I did not tell you that I am positive you would have not known. So we are saying now that we are fit and strong as a result of taking AIDS treatment we want to save lives of those living with HIV and those who are not yet aware of their HIV status,” he said
An estimated 1.3 million people are living with HIV with slightly above half that number being on treatment. (*not real name)
Post published in: Health