We know of the strides made in treating HIV globally, but most of all, Africa has indeed made notable progress, even though, according to UNAIDS, there have been between 33.6 million and 48.6 million deaths since the Aids outbreak.
But because not much was known about HIV/Aids back in the early 80s and 90s, infected people remained unaware of their infection until they had advanced to the latter stages of the illness, at which point death was often inevitable.
Because there were no effective preventative measures or treatments for the virus, people resisted getting tested for the virus. Why get tested if there was no treatment and no cure – if you were sent home to die and rejected by your community?
Back then, anyone with HIV/ Aids was considered dirty, a slut, and ostracised by the community for a myriad of reasons. Most of all, people were afraid of the destruction HIV/ Aids laid in its wake, which wiped out families, took breadwinners, and emotionally scarred many to this day.
Such is the case of Aisha Chikwaka, who goes by the Twitter handle Aisha_WemaARV, who shared a heart-warming thread about her experience of being born with HIV in the late 90s and hers is a story of both joy and grief, having lost his brother to HIV.
Chikwaka celebrating 24 years of living with HIV pens “MOTHERHOOD and HIV a thread: I am a child born with HIV, however, my mom didn’t know her status and even if she did in 1999, there is nothing she could have done because there were no ARVs. The result of that is my late brother (RIP😪) and I getting HIV from our mum.
Being an HIV+ individual has meant perpetually dealing with hate from people, but i love my life and the ones who are in it.I will always advocate and hold space to tell our stories. pic.twitter.com/20Bic9JwEh
— Aisha_WeMaARV🇿🇦🇿🇼 (@aishachikwaka) February 28, 2023
“Being an HIV+ individual has meant perpetually dealing with hate from people, but I love my life and the ones who are in it. I will always advocate and hold space to tell our stories.”
She goes on to say, “On March 3rd, I’ll be HIV+ for 24 years, I believe the 18th marks 12 years of full undetectable virus 🦠status.
On March 3rd ,I’ll be HIV + for 24 years, I believe the 18th marks 12 years of full undetectable virus 🦠 status.
This is what i do every morning….My ARVs 💊 plus Multivitamins 😍= undetectable virus. pic.twitter.com/5aFt1JYxIf— Aisha_WeMaARV🇿🇦🇿🇼 (@aishachikwaka) February 28, 2023
What is an undetectable virus?
This is known as viral suppression, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and is defined as having fewer than 200 HIV copies per millilitre of blood. (A viral load test shows how much of the virus is in the body by measuring how many particles of HIV are in a blood sample) HIV medications can even lower the viral load to the point that a test is unable to pick it up. That’s what is called an undetectable viral load.
Chikwaka shares that later she will be starting stem cell therapy in the US to cure the virus. The whole process including consultations cost approximately $46K.
Later this year i will start stem cell therapy in the United States 🇺🇸 to cure the virus 🦠. The whole process (including consultations ) costs around $46K pic.twitter.com/0ZgePc8OFH
— Aisha_WeMaARV🇿🇦🇿🇼 (@aishachikwaka) February 28, 2023
Stem cell therapy
In light of World Aids Day in 2022, Dr Theo Gerdener, a clinical haematologist and consultant to DKMS Africa, noted a significant medical history of how five people were cured of HIV AIDS after receiving stem cell transplants last year. He posed a very important question as to whether stem cell therapy could also be an option to treat the 8.5 million people living with HIV/Aids in South Africa.
In a statement shared by DKMS Africa, Gerdener pointed out that even though this happens to very few people, individuals living with HIV can be cured of the disease by administering stem cells with the CCR5-delta variation into their bodies, which causes the development of new CD4-helper lymphocytes that are immune to HIV infection.
Although HIV stigma and discrimination still exist today, I’d like to think that a curtain has been lifted as we are now aware of how they influence the mental and emotional health of those living with the virus. That is because people living with HIV frequently internalise the stigma they encounter and start to form a poor opinion of themselves.
While there have been many studies done on the impact of HIV Aids on the healthcare system, it’s still incredible to see people living their lives to full potential, defying the odds stacked against them.
U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable) was the theme of last year’s World Aids Day, emphasising the crucial message of hope that those who achieve viral suppression by adherence to their HIV/Aids treatment can live long and healthy lives. This is because viral suppression results in an undetectable viral load, meaning that HIV+ people can get on with their lives without the fear of transmitting HIV to others.
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