HIV/Aids activist Mpho Thaba was so sick from Covid-19 she feared for her life.
The 45-year-old has been living with HIV for 23 years and says she was vaccine hesitant in the early days of the pandemic because of misinformation, before ultimately contracting Covid-19.
Looking back at the hesitancy and conspiracy theories she was drawn into, Thaba compared it to the same paranoia that overtook communities during the HIV/Aids crisis of the early 2000s.
Thaba was speaking to Sowetan ahead of World Aids Day which is commemorated for the second year running in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. “I think the reason I was against vaccination was because I was naive and I took everything that was said in the community and let that get to me. I did not get good information,” she said.
Thaba, who was born and bred in Alexandra, northern Johannesburg, said when she caught Covid-19 for the first time, she was unable to breathe and sleep at night. She was also afraid to go the hospital because she thought she would die there.
“Last year June I got very sick... I was supposed to be hospitalised because I had breathing problems in the evening, but I did not want to. At the time I was very scared because everyone that I knew who had Covid-19 and had been in hospital almost didn't make it and that was my fear,” she said.
“At night I would have to sleep while sitting down, so I would definitely encourage people to vaccinate because then when you catch Covid-19 it doesn't become severe, especially with all these strains.”
When she was first diagnosed with HIV Thaba went into denial for years. “I was diagnosed in 1998 just after I had suffered from a miscarriage, and the doctor requested that I do blood tests and he called me two days later to come to his practice and he broke the news to me.
“I sort of like went into a very deep denial stage because I remember walking out of the doctor's office and I did not share the news of my HIV status with anybody, including my partner at the time or my sister, who is my best friend, or my mom. I felt that there was a mistake that was done,” she said.
But in 2003, after testing for the second time, she decided to face her illness head on. She disclosed her status to her close family who were supportive and eventually the community. The hardest part was disclosing her status to her child.
“I think I made her grow up very quickly but it was important to me that she heard the news from her mom than hear it from the neighbours who saw me in a magazine,” she said.
Thaba said she only started ARVs in 2015 after her CD4 count reached dangerous levels. She said in the early 2000s, HIV patients were not immediately put on medication.
“When I started treatment I was in the midst of a nasty divorce in 2015 and I think depression and stress led to my CD4 count dropping to 69, which is almost near my death bed. Anyone with that CD4 count are either dying from pneumonia or TB. They said I needed to start treatment and I was not hesitant, I started,” she said.
She said she will continue to use her platform to motivate people to take their ARVs and vaccinate against diseases.
“I always say I am a long-term survivor and I stay on treatment. HIV does not stop me from living my life to the fullest. I just need to make sure I stay on treatment. People should move from the idea that it is a death sentence. HIV is manageable and you can live for many years.”
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