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Florence Makumene, 53, holds her HIV medication and a hospital records book at her home in Harare, Zimbabwe on Feb. 7. Credit: AP/Aaron Ufumeli
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Florence Makumene held a plastic container of HIV medication and wondered if it would be her last as fears swelled of a return to a time decades ago when millions across sub-Saharan Africa died of AIDS.
As a young adult in Zimbabwe, Makumene watched loved ones succumb to a diagnosis of HIV that was viewed back then as a death sentence. But the 53-year-old didn’t have to suffer the same fate when she tested positive in 2016. A community group funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, ensured she enrolled in lifesaving treatment.
“People around me, including my own children, had written me off and were preparing to bury me, but I bounced back stronger,” Makumene said.
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