The Sunday News
AFTER being diagnosed with HIV, many people do not have the guts to publicly reveal their status.
Due to the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS, people keep their status a closely guarded secret and would not tell even a single soul, even their partners.
However, a Binga woman living with HIV, Mrs Patience Chiligidi, has defied the HIV-Aids stigma and decided to be open about her status.
The Zimbabwe National Network of People living with HIV (ZNNP+) Binga district youth chairperson, Mrs Chiligidi, has become the lone voice of people living with the virus in Binga, where she is urging other people to be open about their status.
In an interview with Sunday News in Binga, the 33-year-old Mrs Chiligidi, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2011, says she decided go public about her status with the hope that her experiences would encourage others to reveal their status.
After being diagnosed, Mrs Chiligidi, has been moving around giving testimonies to people in Binga at various forums, urging them to change their behaviour and attitudes towards HIV.
The ZNNP+ official said, so far, she had opened a number of support groups in Binga to assist those who are living positively.
“Getting tested is very important so that one can know his or her status. I have opened up support groups in Siabuwa and at the Binga centre.
I would have loved to have more people who are opening up on their status so that we can open more support groups,” said the outspoken Mrs Chiligidi.
The HIV and AIDS activist said opening up about one’s status has had many benefits and the ZNNP+ was ready to assist them.
“ARVs are there at the hospital and HIV positive people are treated in a special way and do not necessarily queue,” said Mrs Chiligidi.
She bemoaned that there were a lot of people who were hiding their HIV status in the area.
“There are still a lot people here who do not want to know and reveal their status. That’s why you hear that a lot of people are dying because they don’t want to know their status. I am still living with my husband and he is at home cooking. He is still negative,” said ZNNP+ member.
Mrs Chiligidi also said she was a living testimony that pregnant mothers could also give birth to HIV negative children even when they were positive.
She said that she was taking the life prolonging drugs, ARVs in order to keep her CD4 count under control.
A Binga Hospital health officer said having people like Mrs Chiligidi was critical in lessening the stigma associated with the virus. ‘’Having someone disclosing her status helps people realise that HIV is not a death sentence,” he said.
He added that as long as a person with HIV gets proper food and eats healthy food, they could live a normal life.
