“My mum is the only one in my family who knows my HIV status,” said Memory Katongo, who is 22 years old, “because I started my HIV treatment when I was a child.” Ms Katango has benefited from the new multimonth dispensing policy in Zambia and managed to get HIV treatment for six months. This has helped her stay home and practise social distancing. She is being cautious because of her HIV status. She said that she can access health-care services, but it is “tedious” and the queues are long. Credit: Phenomenal Positive Youths, Zambia
Emmanuel Chilongo is 22 years old and grew up in Chipata, just outside of Lusaka. His family has been supportive of him since childhood. Mr Chilongo said that the COVID-19 outbreak has affected his work and social life. He has stopped working and he and his peers no longer meet to give each other support; now they chat on WhatsApp. In terms of access to HIV treatment, he said, “The gate at the facility is always closed, the queues are too long and the guards ask you to show your health card publicly, which is embarrassing.” He cannot access other health facilities because most are closed and “very strict”. Credit: Phenomenal Positive Youths, Zambia
Exildah Mwamba Kapembwa is 25 years old and is the third born in a family of seven children. “I am the only one HIV-positive in the family—they are very supportive and influence me in a good manner,” she said. Ms Kapembwa said it is difficult being a businessperson during lockdown as income is irregular and work takes longer due to the lack of movement. She said she received a call to collect a six-month supply of HIV treatment but has been unable to go to the clinic to get it. Credit: Phenomenal Positive Youths, Zambia
Graham Mbewe is 31 years old and from Ndola, on the Zambian Copperbelt. “I am the firstborn of six children, and I grew up with my mother, who was a single parent. My mother influenced me to be strong. With her support, I discovered my HIV status in May 2017,” he said. Mr Mbewe is not experiencing any disruption in his HIV treatment because he managed to get medication in bulk during the partial lockdown. Since then he has only accessed health services once. “I live in fear because I am HIV-positive and my immune system is weak, so am not working anymore,” said Mr Mbewe. Credit: Phenomenal Positive Youths, Zambia
Twenty-six-year-old Esnart Mucheleka grew up in Lusaka West. She was a sickly child and in and out of hospital. Finally, in 2005, at the age of 11 years, she tested for HIV and went onto HIV treatment. COVID-19 has affected her work as a community care giver. “I no longer do the usual things; I cannot go the community to sensitize people on HIV and I am losing my clients,” she said. Ms Mucheleka said she is trying to use virtual platforms to meet clients but they “do not easily open up” and it is better to build trust in person. She said that the health-care system is not as thorough as before COVID-19 and adherence checks are no longer carried out. She rarely accesses health-care services, except to obtain her HIV treatment. Credit: Phenomenal Positive Youths, Zambia
Oswald Chisenga, the team leader of Phenomenal Positive Youths, said the organization has noticed that young people have experienced challenges in accessing their monthly supply of HIV treatment. “The limitation of travel during the COVID-19 outbreak, the fear of exposure to the coronavirus and the associated stigma is restricting people from visiting health-care facilities, even with the revised national guidelines,” he said. “Even messages on COVID-19 have been misinterpreted by people as meaning they should not go to a health facility, even when the need arises.” Credit: Phenomenal Positive Youths, Zambia

Feature story

Phenomenal Positive Youths lead the way during COVID-19 pandemic in Zambia

23 July 2020

Phenomenal Positive Youths are young people living positively with HIV, working towards the elimination of stigma and discrimination, adherence to HIV treatment, access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services and mental health support in Zambia.

UNAIDS has facilitated sexual and reproductive health and rights training for the Lusaka team of Phenomenal Positive Youths and plans to extend it to other districts in Zambia. The training will now include the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on young people living with HIV, which is currently being evaluated through an impact assessment survey.

Currently, its members are part of the multisectoral risk communication community engagement pillar, as recommended by the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. Under this pillar, they are involved in creating and disseminating messages on COVID-19, busting myths, social listening and raising awareness, under the guidance of the Ministry of Health in Zambia.

UNAIDS has advocated for the implementation of multimonth dispensing of HIV treatment in Zambia. As a result, the Ministry of Health has issued a national circular to accelerate the implementation of the multimonth dispensing policy, instructing health facilities to provide three to six months of antiretroviral medicines to people living with HIV. Phenomenal Positive Youths is encouraging its members and health-care workers to follow the new guidelines.

While the policy is being implemented, Oswald Chisenga, the team leader of Phenomenal Positive Youths, said the organization has noticed that young people have experienced challenges in accessing their monthly supply of HIV treatment. “The limitation of travel during the COVID-19 outbreak, the fear of exposure to the coronavirus and the associated stigma is restricting people from visiting health-care facilities, even with the revised national guidelines,” he said. “Even messages on COVID-19 have been misinterpreted by people as meaning they should not go to a health facility, even when the need arises.”

Thus, the organization has developed an unconventional and innovative approach to ensure that its members have an ongoing supply of antiretroviral therapy, called chilimba (a commonly used local word meaning to loan or advance a colleague something). Members of the organization loan their antiretroviral medicines to one another until the person in need can obtain their supply, at which time the medication is returned.

“We help each other so that no one skips a day or does not have enough antiretroviral therapy due to different circumstances. It may be because of illness, or the person is very far from the health facility or they have no documentation to access the health facility,” said Mr Chisenga. “We communicate with one another using our social media groups. This helps us to maintain adherence, encourages openness and virtual interactions or physical ones while observing social distancing guidelines,” he added. 

This is only one of the innovations that Phenomenal Positive Youth has brought into the youth-led movement in Zambia. The group was also among the first associations to speak openly about mental health among young people, especially among young key populations and young vulnerable people.

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