HIV/AIDS is a deadly virus which seemed to have no cure, and in September 20 of 1987, Dr Joe Muriuki became the first Kenyan person to announce to the world that he was HIV positive.
The doctor who had diagnosed him with the disease had informed Muriuki that he only had about three months to live, and subsequent other doctors confirmed both the diagnosis and prognosis.But the three months turned to one year, to a decade…...and now 35 years have passed since Joe had received that dreaded news.
He has only been on ARVS for four years, yet he was enjoying life like nothing ever happened.
One day he was being interviewed about his status, and when he was asked how comes he had to survive with a deadly disease for that long before taking ARV's, and this is what he had to say," ....eating a healthy diet, keeping active, a positive attitude, and being sexually responsible, has helped maintain a stable CD4 count of over 400 throughout the 31 years. My viral load has never been detectable…..,”
It was not until his CDF count had started to drop, than he started taking the ARV's.
His health started to deteriorate further, and at February 15th, he was confirmed by Nephak, an organisation that supports people living with HIV and AIDS, that he has passed away.
Muriuki served at the HIV tribunal as a representative of people living with HIV and was a member of the regional task force that worked on the formulation of the East African HIV and Aids Management Act.
He had impacted the country in a positive way, and even though he has departed us, he will never be forgotten.
Content created and supplied by: Legend_of_arts (via Opera News )
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