I.M. is 36 years old, black female, living in the Nkobe neighbourhood, Maputo province, and is married. For her, the opportunity she has had through the project has changed her life: "It all started in 2013 when I was pregnant and had antenatal appointments at the Nkobe health centre, where I was tested for HIV at every appointment with an indeterminate HIV result. In the ninth month of my pregnancy, I became very sick and went back to Nkobe Health Center for another antenatal appointment. At this appointment, I was again tested for HIV, which came back positive, and I was recommended to start treatment."
I told my husband what was happening and he started discriminating against me, he didn't sleep at home anymore, and he didn't take care of me like he should. That's when I started antiretroviral treatment, and I admit that I didn't adhere well because of my husband's discrimination.
The days of childbirth approached and I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She lost her life when she was eight months old. The days after my daughter's death were difficult and I had no moral support from my husband. He drank a lot, he was asked to take an HIV test and he refused, and to this day he won't take an HIV test, claiming that he is fine.
I used to go to Nkobe Health Center and I didn't have good adherence to ART. I started getting spots on my skin and I was treated with some ointments but there was no improvement. The situation got worse and I began to feel pain and an increase in the size of my right leg. I was given drugs that I didn't know about, but they didn't improve my pain.
My husband burned my medicine and my hospital appointment card, and I didn't take my medicine for a while, the spots on my body increased, the pain and the size of my right leg also increased, and big pimples came out, and it hurt a lot all over my body, and I walked with a lot of difficulties because of the pain in my right leg and all over my body.
I went to the Machava II Health Center and was seen by a doctor who gave me a referral to Alto Maé. There they did a lot of tests and I was seen by many doctors. They told me that in addition to HIV, I had a tumour called Kaposi's sarcoma that had spread throughout my body and was causing all this pain.
I was also told that I would have to undergo treatment for at least two years in order to eradicate the tumour and that the end of the treatment would depend on my body's response to the tumour. The treatment consisted of starting chemotherapy every 15 days. I started the treatment in May, and after a few weeks I felt that the pain was getting better, the pimples were getting smaller, and after a while, they disappeared.
I started to improve a lot, and after a while, I felt good again, people around me started to see my improvement, my husband also changed his behaviour, and I returned to an almost normal life. I haven't finished the treatment yet, but I am getting better, I just feel a pain in my chest when they give me the red serum.
I'm very happy, when I was sick I couldn't/wouldn't work, I just prayed day and night.
At the moment I can do my routine activities, I can go to my small farm to grow produce for my livelihood, and I have the opportunity to work in a factory in the city of Matola, all thanks to the improvement in my health".
Before
After
A patient diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma before and after the procedure (photos taken with the consent of the patient).
Many people may be going through the same or similar problems and don't know where to turn to share their pain (the difficult situation they are facing) and get support. They end up isolating themselves from people. Even though HIV infection is a very old and historic disease, and there is a lot of information and treatment that makes the virus undetectable, there is still a lot of discrimination among people, which makes it difficult to adhere to antiretroviral treatment. This contributes to the occurrence of opportunistic diseases and complications that can lead to death if not treated promptly. Timely access to health care is also important for the prevention of complications and/or death.
