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.
