Aisha Abdallah never misses her regular medical appointments at the Zanzibar Youth Education, Environment, Development Support Association (ZAYEDESA) care and treatment centre for HIV, located on the outskirts of Stone Town, Zanzibar.
She was diagnosed with HIV in 2006. “I went with a group of friends to get tested. I was keen to know my status because of my lifestyle. And I tested HIV-positive,” she says.
Ms Abdallah is engaged in sex work. “I was in a steady relationship with the father of my daughter,” she says. “But when he started to mistreat me, I had to run away from the Tanzania mainland to Zanzibar and find a way of living alone.” She says she often cries at the thought of leaving her daughter behind.
ZAYEDESA runs the only community-based HIV clinic in Zanzibar. Ms Abdallah found out about the new clinic in 2014 from a community outreach worker and a former sex worker. “In the first care and treatment centre where I used to go, I was treated like a kid and not getting the services which I needed. At ZAYEDESA, health-care workers talk to me in a friendly manner and understand my concerns,” she says. At the centre, she has also benefited from tuberculosis screening and treatment and family planning services, including condoms. “I trust the clinic. I know if I get ill I can get good service there.”
ZAYEDESA has established four youth-friendly health centres on both islands of Zanzibar, Unguja and Pemba, an anonymous toll-free AIDS helpline and a text message service to deliver HIV and sexual and reproductive health information. It is at the centre of the community-based AIDS response in Zanzibar and plays a critical role in offering stigma and discrimination-free services to key and vulnerable populations.
Stigma remains one of the major obstacles to accessing prevention, treatment and care services in Zanzibar. Ms Abdallah would like to pass on one message, “I want people to understand that HIV can affect anyone, anywhere.”
Ms Abdallah, who prefers not to use her real name, is on life-saving HIV treatment. “I know the importance of adhering to my antiretroviral treatment. My mum is very supportive, she calls me every day to check on me and remind me about the medicines.”
UNAIDS has supported the refurbishing of youth-friendly centres managed by ZAYEDESA. Currently, UNAIDS provides support to ZAYEDESA to ensure its meaningful participation in the development, implementation and review of the United Nations Joint HIV Plan in Zanzibar and on supporting its resource mobilization efforts.
