You get your picture on a wall!

My sister-in-law went to Conakry to see about an AIDS test and medication. The fear of what's going to happen to her weighs heavy on her and paralyzes her at times. She fears, too, that other people will find out she has AIDS and stigmatize her. When she went to the hospital in Conakry, an acquaintance told her that the money was gone and the medicine was gone. They could still test her, but if they did that and she was positive, they would just take her picture, and that was all they could do for her. "You get your picture on a wall with other people who have AIDS, " she was told.

 

She went to another clinic with a doctor from her own ethnic group and had a positive test for AIDS there, too. I suspect that this was just the same blood screening test she had in Labé, though, and NOT the confirmatory test she needs. She has gone back to Labé.