adminSharon Kavhu Features Correspondent
Stanely Takaona (53) has been living with HIV and Aids for two decades and is still going strong. He survived the disease when it was still perceived a death sentence in Zimbabwe back in the 1990s.
During that time, there were only a few individuals who could afford to import anti-retrovirals (ARVs) while the rest were taken to medical centres waiting for their deaths.
“My hair was flowing through my pale scalp that I merely used a towel to brush it, most people could only look at me once before quickly turning away as my condition scared them,” he said.
“I was even scared to look myself in the mirror because whenever I did, all I could see was my skeletal bones covered with a thin layer of my dark and pale skin. My eyes had also turned pale that my pupil appeared greyish. Sometimes I felt uncomfortable going to bed as I feared that I would not see the next day.”
The 53-year-old man tested HIV positive in 1996 where his CD4 count was only 315. Even though he played tennis and looked fit, his immune system had been severely damaged.
“I was tested by a private doctor who told me my results and gave me some counselling on HIV and Aids. My doctor encouraged me to maintain my CD4 counts through exercising and eating healthy foods until I could afford to import the ARVs. It took me four years to tell my former wife about my condition.”
He said he tested HIV positive when his wife was pregnant with their third child.
“I eventually told her about my condition in 1999 but, she seemed as if she knew about it first before me. She gave birth to an HIV free baby girl because of Chinese herbal use which she imported from South Africa to boost her immune system.
“Later on, I suspected her of bringing the virus after discovering a lot of secrets behind her. She had a child by her biological father from ‘Zviratidzo’ Church before me and was being promiscuous with truck drivers when she travelled to SA.”
He divorced after the suspicions came to light.
Mr Takaona said his doctor’s advice seemed to be working for him although he fell ill regularly.
His condition worsened in 1999 where he developed Karposi’ Sarcoma, a cancer that is associated with HIV.
“Being diagnosed of KS was my worst nightmare; the cancer forced me into bad shape. I was admitted in hospital for three to four years,” he said. My hair started falling off while my toe and finger nails turned into a bronze colour before peeling off. Every now and then I developed deep wounds that would cut right through my flesh and expose the bony area on my body.
Some of the wounds even developed in my mouth that eating was something else. I ended up being feed with small medical tubes that were inserted through my veins.”
Mr Takaona had difficulties going to the toilet on his own, most of the time he would relieve himself in bed. In some cases, he would pass undigested food instead of faeces.
He was diagnosed of a kidney problem and Tuberculosis in 2000.
“I was put on eight months treatment for TB and the treatment required me to eat and yet the wounds I had constrained me from eating,” he said.
“The virus had deteriorated my immune system that every time I would contract infectious diseases. However, I started to see the light when my pension money was released in 2002.”
He received Z$2 million and bought the imported Stanaleve (ARV) drug which was a three in one tablet comprising of Stavudine, Lemivudine and Nevirapine.
“Drugs for Z$70 would last for 30 days and I also needed money for healthy foods. Therefore I ended up breaking the pills into halves in order to prolong use. I had no idea that taking the pills in halves was making me default treatment.”
Mr Takaona said his situation improved when the first Opportunistic Infections Clinic was opened in Zimbabwe at Harare Hospital.
Mr Takaona was patient number 504 to be attended at the clinic.
At the hospital, Mr Takaona continued taking Stanaleve.
Unfortunately, a few months later he was screened for CD4 count and his body contained only 20 and yet he had spent the whole year on treatment.
Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Paul Chimedza, according to Mr Takaona, was one of the founding doctors of OI Clinic and he advised him to be initiated on the second line treatment.
“Before I was initiated on the second line, the doctors screened me for my CD4 count again and the results were the same. Thus when I was initiated on Keletra, Aluvia which was a second regiment,” he said.
“I was patient number seven to be initiated on the second regiment countrywide and this was in 2005. Doctors said I had defaulted treatment by taking my pills in halves. Keletra was the most difficult to take, it was accompanied by a DDI which is a drug taken 30 minutes before a meal then Keletra. This was taken two times a day, in the morning and evening.”
In 2009, Mr Takaona was moved to a combination of Aluvia and Zidovudine which was less painful to consume compared to the prior.
After a year and a half, he was switched to a fixed dose of Atassavia which is taken after every 24 hour.
This dosage is taken together with Tenolum E and it is his current combination.
In Zimbabwe, anti-retroviral drugs were introduced to the public sector in 2004.
The early first line drug combination was Stavudine (d4T) plus Lamuvidine (3TC) and Nevirapine (NVP).
The early first line drug combination was later reviewed in 2010 when Stavudine was replaced with Tenofovir because most people were experiencing side effects from the drug. WHO recommended Tenofovir as it had less side effects and the country adapted to a combination of Tenofovuir plus Lamuvidine and Nevirapine 3.
Last year, WHO guidelines recommended the use of one pill per day (a combination of Tenofovir plus Lamuvudine and Efavirenz).
Online Reporter