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The Portuguese service of the HIV/AIDS news agency PlusNews is providing a space for HIV-positive women in Africa's five Lusophone countries to tell of their experiences.
Launched during International Women's Day on 8 March in the form of a blog, the first instalment introduced subscribers to Ana Maria Muhai of Mozambique, who, with the help of anti-AIDS drugs, was able to recover from an emaciated 29 kilograms to the picture of perfect health.
Muhai now works as a counsellor at a treatment centre on the outskirts of the capital, Maputo, where she helps other HIV-positive people access and adhere to antiretroviral therapy.
Mercedes Sayagues, editor of the PlusNews Portuguese service, said the blog added to diversity in the media, where women were usually portrayed as victims of the pandemic and seldom had their expertise acknowledged.
"Because they speak in Portuguese, their voices are also drowned out in the pan-African flow of HIV/AIDS information," she noted.
The monthly 'Coracao Aberto' (Open Heart) blog can be accessed at: www.plusnews.org
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions