When Jenny Boyce was diagnosed with HIV after a routine test nearly 20 years ago, she was sent home to die as there was no treatment available for her.
Her future looked bleak, and she admitted that she made it worse by refusing to accept her new reality.
It’s been 15 years since Boyce began taking anti-retroviral treatment through the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) programme.
She was one of the first people in South Africa to receive treatment through the foundation when it opened its first clinic in Umlazi, Durban, in 2002.
Reflecting on her journey, Boyce said she’d had a hard time dealing with the news.
In 2001, she had contracted tuberculosis and pneumonia, and was discharged from hospital and told to go home and wait to die.
“It was an incredibly scary experience. The doctor just said ‘you have Aids and you’re going to die’.”
Today, however, she says she is a testament that being HIV positive does not have to change the quality of one’s life.
Boyce said outside the foundation, treatment was only available through private healthcare, which at that time was not affordable to low and middle-income earners.
“When we gathered at the AHF centre in Umlazi for the first time, we were a group of very sick people. As we sat in the waiting room, I remember there was a certain smell in the air, significant of death and dying,” she said.
As weeks spiralled into months, she, along with her group, regained their strength and began the fight against perceptions of the virus.
“We realised that the treatment was working, and developed a sense of comradeship, and became the patients that were leading the journey and the fight towards better treatment.”
This month, the AHF celebrates its 30th anniversary of providing people at grassroots level with quality HIV/Aids treatment in South Africa.
The foundation is also celebrating its 10th year in the Eastern Cape. Operating from a clinic in Middledrift, AHF provides testing, treatment, improved quality healthcare and counselling for the rural village and other small towns across the province.
Boyce said she believed amazing strides in HIV/Aids understanding and treatment had led to a great turnaround for South Africa, but said more openness was still needed about the reality of the virus.
“There is life beyond HIV. Back when we started treatment, we took six pills, and now it’s just one. You also don’t need to wait until you’re sick to get on treatment anymore, so you don’t have to be ‘exposed’.
“A person’s health is their private matter, but we can’t let it be so private that it inhibits our ability to care for ourselves,” she said.
Boyce will share her story, along with other AHF beneficiaries, at the foundation’s celebration in the city today. Be part of the celebration, and learn more about the foundation’s achievements over their 30 year journey, through the Aids Healthcare Foundation page, available via DispatchLive
Her journey with HIV a testimony to foundation
Her future looked bleak, and she admitted that she made it worse by refusing to accept her new reality.
It’s been 15 years since Boyce began taking anti-retroviral treatment through the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) programme.
She was one of the first people in South Africa to receive treatment through the foundation when it opened its first clinic in Umlazi, Durban, in 2002.
Reflecting on her journey, Boyce said she’d had a hard time dealing with the news.
In 2001, she had contracted tuberculosis and pneumonia, and was discharged from hospital and told to go home and wait to die.
“It was an incredibly scary experience. The doctor just said ‘you have Aids and you’re going to die’.”
Today, however, she says she is a testament that being HIV positive does not have to change the quality of one’s life.
Boyce said outside the foundation, treatment was only available through private healthcare, which at that time was not affordable to low and middle-income earners.
“When we gathered at the AHF centre in Umlazi for the first time, we were a group of very sick people. As we sat in the waiting room, I remember there was a certain smell in the air, significant of death and dying,” she said.
As weeks spiralled into months, she, along with her group, regained their strength and began the fight against perceptions of the virus.
“We realised that the treatment was working, and developed a sense of comradeship, and became the patients that were leading the journey and the fight towards better treatment.”
This month, the AHF celebrates its 30th anniversary of providing people at grassroots level with quality HIV/Aids treatment in South Africa.
The foundation is also celebrating its 10th year in the Eastern Cape. Operating from a clinic in Middledrift, AHF provides testing, treatment, improved quality healthcare and counselling for the rural village and other small towns across the province.
Boyce said she believed amazing strides in HIV/Aids understanding and treatment had led to a great turnaround for South Africa, but said more openness was still needed about the reality of the virus.
“There is life beyond HIV. Back when we started treatment, we took six pills, and now it’s just one. You also don’t need to wait until you’re sick to get on treatment anymore, so you don’t have to be ‘exposed’.
“A person’s health is their private matter, but we can’t let it be so private that it inhibits our ability to care for ourselves,” she said.
Boyce will share her story, along with other AHF beneficiaries, at the foundation’s celebration in the city today. Be part of the celebration, and learn more about the foundation’s achievements over their 30 year journey, through the Aids Healthcare Foundation page, available via DispatchLive
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos