“Today, HIV hardly affects my everyday life.”
I come from Ethiopia and have been living in Switzerland for many years. I have known that I live with HIV for about seventeen years. I received the diagnosis two years after my arrival, during medical examinations related to problems with my feet. At first, I was unable to accept the result. To me, it felt like a divine punishment, a sign that I had done something wrong. In my community, living with HIV is often perceived as a sign of sin.
Alex from Ethiopia*
At that time, I received important support from a social worker at the hospital and later from a counselling service that accompanied me over a longer period. Without this support, the early phase would have been very difficult to cope with.
Access to the healthcare system was initially challenging for me, as I had neither a residence permit nor health insurance. It was only after a medical certificate was issued that I was able to obtain a residence permit and begin treatment. After that, I was treated well for the most part—by specialised services, by doctors and by hospitals. There were some negative experiences, but the vast majority of people I encountered were respectful. The language situation, however, remained difficult: my limited knowledge of German often made me feel excluded and sometimes misunderstood. I had little influence over the number and type of medical examinations that were carried out.
The difference compared to medical care in Ethiopia is enormous. In Switzerland, effective treatments are consistently available, support is reliable and help is provided quickly. In Ethiopia, I have seen how much people living with HIV suffer because they do not have access to effective medication. Here, the situation is different: when I have health problems, I receive help immediately. That saved my life.
Outside of medical contexts, I rarely talk about HIV. My family knows about my status. In my community, however, I have never spoken about it. At first, I avoided contact out of fear of stigma, and later for other reasons as well. For many years, a large part of my life took place mainly in hospital—because of HIV, but also due to other illnesses. As a result, I had little energy for social relationships.
Today, HIV hardly affects my daily life. It plays an important role only during regular medical check-ups. Apart from that, I often forget that I live with HIV.
What do I wish for? Above all, information in people’s mother tongues—absolutely. Many people with a migration background have no access to knowledge about prevention, treatment or living with HIV. Information services such as magazines or counselling centres should be more widely accessible. It is also essential to be able to accept the diagnosis, to be well informed and to be able to trust something—whether it is medical support or one’s own faith. For me, faith plays an important role; it gives me strength, support and guidance.
Support is crucial, especially in the period immediately after the diagnosis. At that time, I was very desperate and had great difficulty accepting that I was living with HIV. Without help, I might not be here today. It is also important that people get tested. If I had not had problems with my feet, I would probably never have been tested—and I might not be alive today.
* Name changed.
Portrait written by Marlon Gattiker, based on an interview conducted by Anja Suter (Swiss AIDS Federation). Special thanks to Tesfalem Ghebreghiorghis (Prevention and Migration, Sexual Health Zurich) for organising the interview and providing interpretation. We also thank the HIV/AIDS Chaplaincy for kindly making the premises available.