Since the HIV/AIDs virus hit the country in 1986, a wave of stigma began spreading across the nation, with people who were diagnosed with the disease opting to hide their status from the public.
One man, Joe Muriithi Muriuki, however, took the bull by its horns when he decided to go public on his status in 1987, three years after the disease was reported in Kenya.
At the time of his diagnosis, Muriuki disclosed that his then doctor, had given him just three month's to live owing to the severity of the infection.
Fast forward, 36 years later, Muriuki, who turned 62 years old in 2021, has been leading a healthy and rich life.
"I had struggled with the infection without knowing what was happening since 1986. There was very little information about HIV, plenty of stigma and a lot of profiling and name calling," he narrates.
"I was lucky I had a very supportive family and as you can see now, I have lived with this HIV for 36 years."
He further noted that for the first 26 years, there were no Anti-Retroviral (ARVs) and that his well being was largely pegged on positive living.
He would monitor his diet to ensure that he got the nutrients right and kept opportunistic diseases at bay.
"The ARVs just came about 10 years ago. During that time, I was surviving on what we call positive living. Ensuring that you are on proper diet."
"That is how I managed that period when I was not on ARVs, and it worked because I really experienced any bouts of infections," he added.
For years, Muriuki lead a healthy life until early 2020 when he began experiencing difficulties in swallowing solid food.
He sought treatment in April 2021 and was diagnosed with gut cancer which had affected 12cm of his oesophagus.
He began treatment immediately and has since lost 33kgs of his weight as a result of daily radiotherapy and weekly chemotherapy treatments.
When he was diagnosed, his wife Jane, although she tested negative, swore that he would stick with him and has largely remained negative.
Below is the video:
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