HEALTH
HEALTH
Being a‘ superhero’: The South African volunteers trialing a HIV vaccine
Gugulethu Township, South Africa( CNN) Every day, Luyanda Ngcobo’ s routine is the same: It starts with a trip to the back cupboard, where safely hidden away is a bottle of nevirapine, an antiretroviral pill he has to take twice a day for the rest of his life.
“ Some young people don’ t want to take the pills because they have that anger like,‘ Why me? Why do I have this particular disease and why do I need to take these pills?’“ he said.
But Ngcobo has never had the luxury of choice. His HIV was passed on from his mother at birth. He says the“ Why me?” question often pops up, though it is never followed by fingerpointing.
“ I never had that blame feeling in my heart, no,” he insisted.“ Because I know that my mother wouldn’ t have purposely given me HIV if she knew. Not my mom. That is how she is.”
Lifesaving treatment
Ngcobo’ s one pill taken twice a day is a far cry from the cocktail of drugs needed to combat the condition just a few years ago.
Billions of dollars in funding by the United States through the President’ s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief means millions of people are now on lifesaving HIV treatment-- and that treatment continues to improve.
Luyanda Ngcobo says a vaccine would“ prevent cases like mine, where a kid is born with HIV and brought into this world with an illness that is incurable.”
Ngcobo’ s medication is also more effective than previous tablets, which he says is important, because the stigma around HIV and AIDS still exists.
“ You can’ t even cough without people feeling sorry for you,” he said.
24 LIFE TODAY MAGAZINE Issue 1, No. 001 / 17 / December 2016