缅北禁地

For youth in Africa, the mental toll brought by stigma, discrimination and misconceptions surrounding HIV/AIDs weighs heavily on their shoulders.

Yet an increasing number of youth advocates are emerging to advocate against the HIV stigma, and experts are lauding the pivotal role social media is playing as a timely tool for fostering HIV awareness, encourage testing, promoting medication adherence and challenging prevailing stigma.

Young Africans living with HIV are using the most powerful human communication tool of their time; social media.

Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, have become dynamic spaces where these youth, commanding audiences numbering hundreds of thousands, share their life journey and advocate for change.听

Doreen Moraa, a prominent HIV advocate, exemplifies the power of social media in reshaping perceptions. Her candid disclosure of her HIV status and journey on Facebook in 2015 marked the beginning of her social media advocacy.

Despite initial reservations and the stigma, she faced, Ms. Moraa鈥檚 posts have evolved into a platform for education and dispelling myths about living with HIV.

"I received so many calls from people who knew me," 30-year-old Ms. Moraa told听Africa Renewal.听"At first, this felt awkward, and I felt ashamed but then I gained courage to respond to their questions."

Few know that she had stopped taking the HIV medication in 2011 because of 鈥渢reatment fatigue鈥�.

"I was just tired of taking medicine every day," Ms Moraa said.听

However, when not taking her medication led to serious consequences such as opportunistic infections like TB, Pneumonia, and herpes zoster, she returned to her HIV听听medication and treatment.

Ms. Moraa got to know about her status when she was only eight years old. She had been a sickly child. Her parents believed she had been bewitched hence the frequent illness.

Ms Moraa was put on ARVs at age 13 when the drugs became free and easily available.听

Her social media posts have been a way of changing perception.听

鈥淧eople think that those living with HIV are thin and sickly hence the stigma," Ms. Moraa said, adding: "People living with HIV do all the things other people in the society do and live a normal life. The only difference is that we take our medication daily."

In the beginning, Ms. Moraa鈥檚 parents, especially her father, did not approve of her social media posts, but they later accepted it and supported her.

She gained a lot of traction when a media house picked up her story and published it. The attention it brought was bittersweet.

"While I try to make my page educational, some people will still make negative comments about my status. Some think I am clout-chasing, while others think I lie and only after money," Ms. Moraa said.听

Ms Moraa is now a two-time award winner in combating HIV/ AIDS stigma and Advocacy. She won the Kenya National AIDS Control Council Advocacy award among communities of AYPs in the Maisha Conference 2021 and Youth Taskforce (缅北禁地Women)|AYP advocacy award.

Ms Moraa partners with Maisha,听an HIV stigma reduction intervention in antenatal care (ANC) to reduce HIV stigmatization.

She has also been working with International AIDS Society (IAS), an organization that educate and advocate for a world in which HIV no longer presents a threat to public health and individual well-being.

You can follow her social media handles:听

• @deemoraa01

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Mr. Garebatho, 27, is a self-proclaimed HIV activist and uses his X (Twitter) and Facebook accounts to challenge societal perceptions, contribute to the ongoing battle against stigma, and provide support for those living with HIV.

He was born with HIV but was only diagnosed at the age of seven years.听Soon after, his mother passed and three years later, his father also died. They were not on treatment.听

Yet, fatigue and what he called 鈥減ill burden鈥� was his biggest challenge.

"You wake up and feel like you have just had enough. You think maybe you should give up," Mr. Garebatho told听Africa Renewal. "Pills are also a constant reminder of the condition that you live with."

However, he acknowledges that the evolution of one pill has really helped. Advancements in medicine have seen the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs collapsed into one pill a day from the previous 4 - 6 pills a day.

In his advocacy, Mr. Garebatho said programs like teens club have helped him with acceptance and adherence to treatment.听

Mr. Garebatho is also an Advocate at Sentebale, a charity founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso that gives hope to children and young people affected by HIV in Lesotho and Botswana.听

In addition to his legal work, Mr Garebatho offers primary psychosocial services to adolescents and young people in Botswana. He also educates the public about HIV through his social media platforms.

鈥淵ou can be born with HIV but not with stigma. Stigma is [like] a communicable disease that spreads really fast. As soon as I built a strong wall of defense against stigma and discrimination, I became a better person and am living better life,鈥� he said.

His social media activism is voluntary and is aimed at changing people's perception.

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As the ARVs have improved the wellbeing and physical conditions of most youth living with HIV/AIDs, their mental wellbeing has been the next battle frontier.

"I have recently realized mental health is a big challenge for people living with HIV. This is an area that if one misses to get help, they can lose it and completely stop taking drugs," Saidy Brown, 27, told the Africa Renewal Magazine.

"Whenever I go through these episodes, I seek help from the mental health experts."

Ms Brown was born with HIV and her mother died when she was 10. Her father had died a year earlier.

The last born in a family of four, she learnt of her HIV status when she was 14 years. An NGO was offering a free HIV testing at a school seminar.听

She has been on medication since 2013.听

Ms. Brown started writing motivational letters on HIV to herself after testing positive.

"One day I decided to post one of my letters on Facebook when I was 18 titled: "An Open Letter to HIV鈥�, she said.

She added: "I just felt maybe a few people who knew me and didn鈥檛 know about my status needed to know. I used to write these letters when feeling down,"

Encouraged by the response from the letter, she started documenting her life on social media and slowly turned it into advocacy.

Ms Brown's aim is to educate and encourage people living with HIV through her social media accounts.听

"I needed to create a safer space for people with HIV where we can have a conversation and encourage each other," she said: 鈥淚t can be overwhelming taking ARVs daily. But when you know there are other people going through the same and who can lift up your spirits when you are down, it feels good."听

Ms Brown also works with Y Plus South Africa, a global network for young people living with HIV.听

She has also worked with various organizations like Children鈥檚 Radio Foundation, 缅北禁地Women, and UNICEF to advocate for the youth living with HIV.

She is a听Red Ribbon Foundation Youth for Change HIV/AIDS Activist Award (2017).

Ms. Brown鈥檚 social media accounts have grown.