©InfoAliona tells a familiar story: “I had heard of HIV, but I never thought it would happen to me.”
Aliona, 26, from Temirtau in northern Kazakhstan, contracted HIV from her partner of eight years, who was an injecting drug user and had been sent to prison three times for robbery. They met just three months after he was released from prison.
He had never told her that he was HIV positive until she confronted him after she was diagnosed with HIV. He refused to tell her the truth until she presented him with proof from the hospital that he had been registered as living with HIV since 1996. The Kazakh Red Crescent is now supporting Aliona and she recently completed TB treatment.
Contracting TB
Aliona contracted TB from her sister over two years ago; those with HIV are five times more likely to contract the disease. Temirtau has the highest rate of HIV in Kazakhstan.
“When I knew I was sick I thought about killing myself. But I was pregnant and didn’t want to kill my child. So I chose life. My daughter, Eulia, was born healthy. I was so relieved,” she says, with tears in her eyes. Her child was born on 1 December, World AIDS Day.
The Red Crescent has supported Aliona for one and a half years, providing social, psychological and legal support to help her deal with the stigma associated with dual infection and with legal issues around work and housing. They also provide her with regular food and hygiene kits.
The key to survival
“The Red Crescent is a place where I can come to feel supported, share stories and cry with others. I dream for a good life for my daughter, that she grows up healthy and that history does not repeat itself. I want to become a grandmother and see her kids grow up.”
Aliona is thinking far into the future, a dramatic change from over a year ago. This is something that her Red Crescent psychologist has taught her and is key to a positive attitude and ultimately to survival.
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