in Central African Republic

My name is Donatienne Fetia, and I am the President of the National Congress of Young Women Living with HIV/AIDS in the Central African Republic.

I am 30 years old, Single and have a daughter aged 14 years. I have been HIV positive for the last 12 years. I once cohabited with a man, acting as his second wife. I became pregnant by him, and gave birth to a baby in 1993. In those days, people spoke and thought differently about AIDS. They said it resulted from poisoning, and such other strange things.

In 1996, my husband’s first wife died… My second baby also died that year… People began pointing their fingers at me, saying "Look at that one, she is still young, and yet her co-wife has already died of AIDS". I eventually asked my husband to take me to hospital to undergo testing. A few days later I went back for my results only to find that I had tested HIV positive. I believed that it was all over for me…that it was the end. I was cold with fear. I thought "If you are HIV positive, you are surely going to die!", and this idea had stuck in my head.

After some time, I went back to the hospital. The doctor began to give me advice; he said "Now that you are HIV positive, there is a group that networks People Living with HIV/AIDS, which is called Recapev". When I went to Recapev, the president invited me warmly and told me that it was not the end of the world. He told me, "You can always live long with the virus if you follow the rules. So, from today, stop worrying because you can live a life as normal as other people."

I have always remained in the Network. I really never had enough medication to keep me strong, until 2003. In 2003 I began falling sick frequently and my sister took me to hospital. The doctor asked my sister to buy me antiretroviral drugs. At that time, the drugs were bought, and were very expensive. My elder sister suffered while paying for them. I took these drugs from 2003, until 2004 when the Global Fund began financing HIV/AIDS and TB programmes in my country.

I would like to say that these medicines are responsible for helping me regain my health, and go back to living a productive life, where I found another job and have been able to get involved in other projects. When I last performed a test, my CD4 cell count had increased from 100 to 800. You see? From 100 to 800, because of these medicines. Today, I feel very healthy, I have no problem and I do not get sickly at all.

There is great need in the Central African Republic. For example, the total number of HIV positive people is 240,000, but Global Fund grants are only enough to cover 5000 people during the next three years. You see? It is not enough.