Four years ago she was fighting for her life. She went to a chest clinic about a cough that turned out to be tuberculosis, and also found out she was HIV-positive. First she was given TB drugs. Then she started treatment for HIV.
Mulikat decided to devote her life to counseling others before and after they take the test for HIV. She volunteers at Lagos General Hospital, which gets finance from the Global Fund for test equipment and drugs. Mulikat braves the city’s traffic mayhem day in, day out to provide support to people facing the discovery of their HIV status in similar circumstances to her own.
The message of hope she brings is that even if they do discover they’re carrying the HIV virus, they can still live a full and rewarding life.
Many women only discover that they have HIV when they attend an antenatal clinic where pregnant women are automatically tested for the virus. A positive diagnosis can leave the woman afraid for her own future as well as for the future of the child she is carrying.
Mulikat is a responsible modern woman. She was desperate to conceive but she waited until doctors told her it was safe before accessing help to plan her family. Thanks to the package of services Mulikat received to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus, her son Mumbarak is healthy and does not have HIV.