Living healthy lives with HIV for decades thanks to ARVs

Mbarali. When he tested HIV-positive in 1993, Douglas Kisunga thought it was a death sentence. It got worse when doctors told him that there was neither medicine nor a vaccine against the viral disease.

Thirty years later, the 70-year-old man is still going strong, and the virus in his body is neither detected nor infectious thanks to proper use of the antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), which are now delivered for free in Tanzania.

Mr Kisunga is among Tanzanians infected with HIV who take drugs to control the disease.

According to the Ministry of Health, some 1.7 million Tanzanians are estimated to be living with HIV, and 1.6 of them are already using ARVs.

Patients who take drugs as prescribed have maintained a nearly normal way of life, lowering their risk of infecting others or acquiring other diseases.

After being diagnosed with the viral disease in 1993, Mr Kisunga remained silent for two years, leaving his wife and six children in the dark about his health status.

“I was so shocked by the results that I resigned from teaching,” he says, adding that he had been in bed for about six months.

He stopped having sex with his wife for two years. His family’s reaction to his health status was mixed when he informed them in 1995.

“Many organisations contacted me, wanting me to join them in creating awareness about HIV. I was invited to attend some local and international meetings about the same,” he says.

“I faced stigma, with some people telling me that I was holding keys to the mortuary,” he says.

After being on ARVs since 2008, Mr Kisunga’s life continues, and the virus in his body is neither detected nor infectious.

Witchcraft fails

Another man, Anthony Kyando, 68, also lives with HIV.

But he had it rough. He was stigmatised, lost wives and children, and had to sell belongings to buy ARVs.

After he was diagnosed with HIV in 1996, he just could not believe the results. It was hard for him to accept the fact that he had contracted a disease that had no cure.

Out of desperation, he turned to witchdoctors, who told him that he had been bewitched.

“The witchdoctors went further and started pointing fingers at people who they claimed had thrown the disease at me,” says the father of 10, who lives in Rujewa town in Mbarali district.

Eventually he gave up consulting witchdoctors, resigning himself to his fate.

Selling property to acquire ARVs

“I told my aunt to stop connecting me with witchdoctors because I thought I had my death sentence already,” he says.

In 1997, Mr Kyando’s aunt called a family member who lived in Morogoro to inform him about the health status of his cousin.

The family member consulted doctors, who requested to see Mr Kyando physically.

Desperately looking for a lifeline, Mr Kyando travelled to Morogoro as requested by the doctors.

The doctors confirmed that he had HIV, but the biggest challenge was accessing the drugs, which were available in countries such as South Africa.

“We ordered the drugs from South Africa, and I started using them. It was not easy because I had to sell my three houses, six-acre farm, plots, and other belongings to buy ARVs,” says Mr Kyando.

The drugs slowly started spreading to other countries, thanks to initiatives taken by the government with the support of the US government.

In 2003, the US government announced a relief fund created to control the epidemic by preventing new infections and reducing HIV-related deaths in more than 50 countries.

Called the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), it is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history.

This initiative, which is turning 20 this year, has accelerated the free availability of drugs, equipment, and other facilities in the beneficiary countries.

In 2005, the drugs started being available in various hospitals, including Mbeya Regional Referral Hospital, which Mr Kyando could easily access for free.

Living with a positive partner

27 years later, Mr Kyando is still strong enough to continue with his normal farming and small business activities while taking care of his family.

He lost one of his wives because she stopped taking drugs after a brother-in-law promised to heal her through prayers.

However, in 2016, he married another wife who is HIV-negative, and they have two children who are also HIV-negative.

Doctors say it’s possible for a person who is effectively taking ARVs not to transmit HIV to his/her partner and to have children who are free of the virus.

“That’s scientifically possible,” says Dr Alick Kayange, senior prevention advisor at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Defence (WRAIR-DOD), one of the US agencies that support the HIV response in Tanzania.

Other agencies include the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the Peace Corps, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

“When ARVs are effectively used, they prevent the virus from increasing in volume and at the same time help to strengthen the body’s immunity,” he says.

Such a fact built confidence in Mr Kyando’s wife, Mrs Galasia Melu, who has been with him since 2016.

“When I started a relationship with Mr Kyando, everyone around Rujewa was surprised because they knew he was positive. Some people told me that I was going into the hyena’s mouth,” says the 35-year-old woman.

“By that time, I was a housemaid at Mr Kyando’s home after losing his two wives,” she says, adding that she shifted from Mbozi to Rujewa to look for a job.

She carefully listened to Mr Kyando, who had plenty of knowledge about HIV treatment and prevention, and finally accepted to marry him.

Today, she is safe and loves the family.

“I used to test every three months, but the doctors told me to test after a year,” she says.

Supportive family

Mrs Jane Mwakajumba, 41, was also diagnosed with HIV in 2007, following two years of recurring illness.

Due to her frequent illnesses, she asked for ARV drugs, and doctors obliged after a positive diagnosis.

“When I told my husband that I was HIV positive, he accepted the situation but refused to have sex with me until 2010. We have three children who are all safe. My husband is also HIV-negative, although we are still living together,” says Ms Mwakajumba.

Ms Mwakajumba, Mr Kyando, and Mr Kisunga are stable customers whom doctors say can neither be diagnosed nor infect other people due to their effective use of the ARVs.

When PEPFAR started, less than 1,000 people were estimated to be using ARVs in Tanzania, according to Dr Kayange.

“We are proud to say that the drugs are still available for free in almost all hospitals,” he said, adding that the US government’s support has had an impact on Tanzanians.