Misconceptions

This has been a busy week! I have been observing in the PMTCT and antenatal clinics this week to figure out where we should implement our cough monitor. I made some interesting discoveries about how patients flow through the system, and I think that we will be able to get started in a few weeks.

While at the clinic, I had a conversation with two of the HIV+ patients that has been on my mind a lot.

Patient: Where are you from?
Me: America
Patient: Wow, I wish that I was allowed to travel there.
Me: Allowed? Why wouldn't you be allowed?
Patient: My friend told me that now that I am HIV + I will never be allowed to leave the country.

(later on in the conversation)
Patient: I am so scared to have a relationship with a man ever again.
Me: How come?
Patient: My friend told me that if I sleep with another man and he has a different type of HIV, our types can mix and I will die immediately.

(and a bit later...)
Patient: Everything I do now is for my son. I live every day thinking that I am going to die tomorrow, and I desperately want to see my son grow up and support him so that he can go further in school than I did.

The stigma against HIV and all of it's associated diseases (TB being a major one) is unbelievable here. It leads to many misconceptions that prevent people from seeking testing and treatment. The above patient travels 3.5 hours one way to come to the AMPATH clinic because she is scared of being seen in her hometown by friends or relatives. Despite being enrolled in the HIV care program, she worries about dying every day. She is only 27 years old. This is a reality that I cannot even begin to imagine. I hope that with time and education the stigma will eventually fade one day as it has somewhat in the states. However, I wish that there was something more that I could do to help expedite this process so that more young women could stop living their lives in fear.