France, July 18 -- "I've faced stigma from the community and workplaces," the soft-spoken man, who sat at a desk in a small office off the road connecting the tea-growing district of Thyolo with the commercial city of Blantyre, told RFI in an interview.

Chakwana came out publicly with his status immediately after diagnosis, informing his workmates and community. The backlash from his employer was swift.

"When I revealed my HIV status, my boss said I would die, and it was the counselling I received from MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres) that kept me sane," he said. "When they learnt that I was attending meetings, I was taken to the police on the pretext that I wanted to destabilise the company." A vial of Lenacapavir, a drug taken twice a y...