>> Writes George Mfanando

This year’s World AIDS Day theme, “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response,” speaks deeply to me because my life is proof of what happens when care is not disrupted, when support is strong, and when people living with HIV are treated with dignity.

There was a time when HIV felt like the end of everything. Before receiving care from CDCI, the diagnosis felt like a death sentence. My world collapsed. My dreams froze. I walked through each day feeling as if the ground beneath me had cracked open. I carried fear, shame, and loneliness like a heavy burden on my back.

But everything changed the day I walked into care. What I received was more than medication, it was humanity. It was dignity. It was hope.

Through counseling, treatment, and compassionate support, I learned to live again. My health returned, but even more importantly, my sense of self returned. I discovered that HIV was not the end of my story. It was the beginning of a new chapter one where I could live fully, confidently, and openly.

Today, I am living a long, healthy life. For the first time in years, I truly have a future to look forward to.

As a counsellor and PPI Core Representative, I now stand on the other side supporting others who feel the same fear I once did. I see in their eyes the same storm I survived, and I remind them that survival is possible. Not just survival but joy, purpose, and strength.

This is why this year’s theme matters so much.
In a world where HIV programs face funding cuts and uncertainty, our stories become proof of what continued support can do. When care is uninterrupted, people live. Families stay whole. Communities grow stronger. Futures open.

But disruption, especially financial disruption threatens all of that.

My journey is a testament to what’s possible when the AIDS response is strong, supported, and compassionate. It shows why we must protect these services, not weaken them. Because behind every statistic is a human being, someone who deserves life, dignity, and hope.

This World AIDS Day, I stand proudly and boldly. Not as a victim, but as a survivor. Not as someone defined by HIV, but as someone who transformed because of care, compassion, and community.

I am living proof that with the right support, HIV is not a death sentence it is a challenge we can overcome, together. 

_________

>> George Mfanando is a Counselor within the Chronic Diseases Clinic of Ifakara (CDCI) - the largest rural prospective cohort for individuals living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa.