Posted on 27 November, 2014

Photo by Kate Ribet/MSF

“In clubs, we talk one language. It makes everything easier. Why don’t we have clubs everywhere?”

Name: Zithulele Khanyile
Location: South Africa

Zithulele was diagnosed with HIV in 2002 and found that not only was it difficult to deal with the stigma associated with the disease, but also to access his ARV treatments. In 2007, he joined an MSF-supported NGO, “SHINE”, a club where people with HIV can be together and create a system that streamlines treatment access. “It made living with HIV much easier!” Zithulele says. “I can take care of myself really well now. People can talk to each other, they know each other, we talk one language, we discuss our problems, the side effects we were having. In the hospital, people are still scared to disclose. In clubs, you’ve already disclosed!” On World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, MSF is calling for health providers to adapt treatment to realities of patients’ lives: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/world-aids-day-portraits-my-life-my-hands