Maybe if that day my mother never got ill and didn’t get us worried to the point that she needed professional medical attention; I would be dead.” *Claire’s story

24-year-old Claire and a mother of one was diagnosed with HIV while at the hospital next to her mother’s death bed while attending to her. Claire tested positive for HIV and is currently on medication. Prior to her diagnosis, Claire never presented any signs; however, her mother was sick for a while and she was taken to the hospital for professional help. Several tests were done on her mother, and she was discovered to have been infected by HIV.

“That is how nicely the nurses advised me to test. I was about 13 and I knew what AIDS was.”

Claire was tested, and her result was positive. “I felt a lot of panic, not remembering when I was engaged with a man, (that’s what we were told in school).” Claire was sat down and explained to by the health workers the possibility that she contracted the virus from her mother.

“I was so confused because I didn’t have any signs on my body, nor did I feel sick. The doctors didn’t want to take a 13-year-old into that science. However, they advised us to start medication and referred us to a clinic they knew, Alive Medical Services it was!”

She was started on Septrin to prevent opportunistic infections as she didn’t qualify to start ART at that time. Unfortunately, Claire’s mother died three months later, and she started staying with her aunt.

“I knew I was still young, but I requested my aunt to talk for me to start medication immediately, after all, I was still going to take it even if I took years. All I thought about was death and I didn’t want to die.”

Claire has since been on ART for 10 years now, she is a mother of one and in a discordant healthy relationship.

“Thanks to the Alive Medical Services system, I am counseled every time I come, my child is healthy, just look at this little thing. My partner is healthy and supportive, he is faithfully taking PrEP and he has no problem about it. They have helped me have a healthy family. Thank you, Alive Medical Services, for all your work, your regular testing that keeps us alive indeed.”

Alive Medical Services offers comprehensive care, treatment, and support to HIV-positive patients in the community and works across Kampala, Wakiso, and Mukono districts, to create a world in which families can live free from HIV infection. Just like Claire who was affected by HIV and AIDS can live positively, and productively in society.