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© Julie Remy

Victor, a soft-spoken man of 39 years, is the father of three. He is about to be released from the Thyolo district hospital, where he has spent three months under treatment for pulmonary TB. He is looking well as he walks into the counselling room holding his two-year-old daughter’s hand, his wife taking a seat next to him. Everyone laughs as the little girl starts screaming at the sight of another stranger sitting behind a desk, mistaking the interviewer for a "doctor".

This family is well aware of the perils of TB: Victor’s mother was treated for it five years ago at this same hospital. Victor might be leaving the hospital next week, but he isn’t done with his TB treatment yet. For the next five months, he will need to continue swallowing daily doses of pills making up the continuation phase of his TB treatment. The medical staff is stressing the importance of completing the treatment, particularly because this isn’t the first time Victor has been treated for TB. Last year, he underwent treatment without streptomycin, a drug that is now part of his regimen, only to see his symptoms return shortly afterwards. Back at work, he started coughing again, had bouts of extreme weakness and was vomiting violently. Now, his wife has been appointed his guardian, whose job it is to make sure he doesn’t miss a dose of his extra-strong treatment once he has left the hospital. This is all the more important because Victor is also HIV-positive. Before getting treated for TB, he had already started on antiretrovirals but had to interrupt the treatment because he reacted badly to the combined treatment. He will be re-introduced to ARVs while on TB treatment.

Returning home and to everyday life feels good but the prospect is overshadowed by uncertainty about the future. Victor has serious concerns about his ability to support his family: since last June, he has not been able to work. A few weeks ago, his employer contacted the hospital to confirm that Victor was indeed staying at the hospital. This was apparently not done out of concern for Victor’s well being as no-one from work has ever come to see him. Victor feels betrayed and discriminated against by his employer and does not want to return to his job, even if it were available to him. Instead, he is thinking about setting up his own business selling second-hand clothing in Thyolo. But it will not be an easy livelihood. “The irony is that now that I have my appetite back, I can’t afford all the food I’d like to eat,” he says.