Sibongile Mkhonto (27) shares her story of being diagnosed with TB.

Mkhonto is originally from Limpopo, but has been living in Elukwatini for almost 10 years.

‘’Around February this year I started noticing that I had TB symptoms such as weight loss and coughing, but because I didn’t really understand what was wrong I didn’t go to the clinic. I was afraid that maybe I had HIV because some people like me believe that if you have TB surely you are HIV positive,” says Mkhonto.

She says that there is huge stigma and discrimination in the workplace and in community when it comes to TB, often leading to people delaying a visit to the clinic.

“I finally decided to go to the clinic and the health worker advised that I undergo an HIV test, but I declined because I am afraid.”

At the clinic Mkhonto was given a small container for her sputum and was told to come back the following week for the results.

In March this year Mkhonto was told that she had tested positive for pulmonary TB. The first two months she was on Ethambutol, INH, PZA and Rifampicin. The last four months of treatment her regimen will be Rifampicin and INH.

In May Mkhonto started experiencing peripheral neuropathy and almost stopped her treatment, which would have had fatal consequences, but fortunately she consulted her clinic and it was confirmed that is was a side-effect of the treatment and she was also given pyridoxine tablets.

“With all the information that I got from the clinic I decided to go and test for HIV and I was so happy when I heard that I was HIV negative. If I had been using condoms I would not have been afraid, but from now on I will use condoms no matter what,” says an elated Mkhonto.