{"id":12564,"date":"2022-04-06T07:59:16","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T07:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2"},"modified":"2022-04-06T08:40:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T08:40:02","slug":"living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2","title":{"rendered":"Living harmoniously with HIV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Many people living with HIV admit that one of the most difficult experiences they had gone through in life was learning about their status. Some record feeling sad, angry, scared and<\/p>\n

disappointed. With the right treatment and support however, HIV does not have to stop one from living a long and happy life. Three women from Lehloaneng village in Mohale\u2019s Hoek shared<\/p>\n

their experiences of being diagnosed with HIV and living with it. \u2018Marelebohile Raletele (38) was diagnosed with HIV when she was pregnant after being very ill and hospitalized.<\/p>\n

She recalls her devastation as she was fearful of discrimination especially from her family. \u201cWhen they told me I was HIV Positive, my whole world stopped, I was scared for my life,<\/p>\n

the life of my unborn baby and my family but I went through counselling services which helped me a lot. I also benefitted from the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services, which reduce the chances of<\/p>\n

babies being born with HIV and my baby was born healthy and HIV free,\u201d Raletele disclosed. She added, \u201cSelf-acceptance is key, I have accepted my status, my family, friends and villagers are very supportive too.<\/p>\n

I can stand on top of the mountain and tell people about my status, I have no shame at all. I take my medication well and get all health services without trouble as<\/p>\n

Ntshekhe Hospital brings contraceptive services to the village every month. \u201d \u2018Masechaba Nkebethoane (59) on the other hand discovered her status while she was taking care of her husband who was terminally ill and had<\/p>\n

hidden that he was living with HIV. Nkebethoane had lost a lot of weight and her villager, \u2018Marelebohile Raletele advised her to go check her status at the<\/p>\n

clinic together with her husband, they went and were both diagnosed with HIV. \u201cAt first, it wasn\u2019t easy, I used to hide in my house in fear of being discriminated against.<\/p>\n

Right now I\u2019m at a stage where I can even appear on television telling people about my status. I take my medication accordingly, I exercise regularly and inform other villagers about HIV,\u201d Nkebethoane<\/p>\n

noted. As reported by Lehloaneng Village Health Worker \u2018Mapuseletso Monyobi, she works harmoniously with people living with HIV in the whole village, they are all very cooperative and supportive towards one another.<\/p>\n

They take their medications well and are living healthy lifestyle. \u201cThe only challenge is of people who haven\u2019t tested and are terribly sick, when I advise them to go<\/p>\n

take tests at the clinic they utter unacceptable words to me and refuse when I accompany them as it is the norm. Another one is of the clinic that is not<\/p>\n

easily accessible as it is far, we wish to have a clinic nearby,\u201d \u2018Mapuseletso indicated. Lehloaneng village Chief, \u2018Mamonare Sephapho confirmed that villagers do not discriminate against people living with HIV instead they are<\/p>\n

very supportive. She attributed the villagers\u2019 good approach towards people living with HIV to her own HIV status disclosure. \u201cWe are living harmoniously in this village, no discrimination, no fear and no<\/p>\n

stress to us living with HIV and those not living with it. We all understand that we are affected by the virus, either directly or indirectly. Condoms are<\/p>\n

also available free of charge in the village and are placed at a general caf\u00e9 where anyone can get them,\u201d Chief Sephapho declared. \u201cWe are challenged by a faraway clinic as we use Our Lady of<\/p>\n

the Rosary Clinic at Ha Monyaki, Mohale\u2019s Hoek, about 30-40 minutes\u2019 drive from our village so it poses a problem to those who have financial constraints.<\/p>\n

It also is a problem to elders when they have to go for health checkups and to collect medication,\u201d she said. Sephapho also addressed a need for employment to<\/p>\n

curb starvation, which put their vulnerable lives at an extreme risk. \u201cI plead with the government, individuals and other organizations to offer a helping<\/p>\n

hand as we are starving and experiencing a huge need of food and are financially challenged. Seed donations and other continuous food production means<\/p>\n

would be of great help. I also urge for job creation,\u201d Chief Sephapho concluded. The National Aids Commission (NAC), Communications Officer, Mzondase Tsepane, in her report on the Overall Situation of HIV in Lesotho<\/p>\n

Right Now, indicated that \u201cthe HIV Epidemic in Lesotho has stabilized during the last ten or more years, steadily reducing, showing commendable progress.<\/p>\n

Prevalence is at a mean 24.3% for adults 15-49 according to LePHIA 2017 report and this is the second highest prevalence globally. New infections among all ages declined from an estimated 18 870 in 2007 to 14 706 in 2017<\/p>\n

based on Spectrum Estimates. Women are more affected than men, as females aged 15-49 estimated at 1.95 compared to 1.32 among males and prevalence ratio of 3<\/p>\n

females to 2 males\u201d. Tsepane further indicated that NAC\u2019s vision is of AIDS Free Generation by 2030. Its goals entail reduced new HIV infections by at least 75% from 14 706 in 2017 to less than 3677 by 2023,<\/p>\n

reduced AIDS related deaths by 50% from 4908 in 2017 to less than 2454 by 2023 and mother to child transmission eliminated from 14.6% to less than 2% by 2023.<\/p>\n

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) together with the National Aids Commission (NAC), Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho and the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship Affairs facilitated a 4 days Engagement of Media Practitioners in HIV Pillars last week, which included community tour to Mohale\u2019s Hoek urban and rural areas to document HIV stories.<\/p>\n

If you would like to subscribe for informative newspaper FREE WhatsApp Edition, please follow this link to join. The admin will then remove you from the welcome group so you start receiving the full version (all pages) of the newspaper weekly. https:\/\/chat. whatsapp. com\/IoL8tStNSB186kQeMrb3Cg<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Many people living with HIV admit that one of the most difficult experiences they had gone through in life was learning about their status. Some record feeling sad, angry, scared and disappointed. With the right treatment and support however, HIV does not have to stop one from living a long and happy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8,16],"tags":[233,246,324,245],"class_list":["post-12564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-hiv","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nLiving harmoniously with HIV - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many people living with HIV admit that one of the most difficult experiences they had gone through in life was learning ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Living harmoniously with HIV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many people living with HIV admit that one of the most difficult experiences they had gone through in life was learning ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-06T07:59:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-06T08:40:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/04\/img-624d51c62c2d0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Living harmoniously with HIV\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-06T07:59:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-06T08:40:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2\"},\"wordCount\":969,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/04\/img-624d51c62c2d0.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"HIV\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/living-harmoniously-with-hiv-2\",\"name\":\"Living harmoniously with HIV - 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