Dr Joe Muriuki, the first Kenyan to go public about his HIV status after being positive for thirty-five years has died.
In 1987, Joe Muriuki announced to the world that he was HIV positive, becoming the first Kenyan to do so.
The doctor who had diagnosed him with the disease had informed Muriuki that he only had about three months to live. Other doctors confirmed both the diagnosis and prognosis.
But then the three months passed by, then six, a year and now 35 years. In 1987 when he went to the doctor after a short illness, he never expected to be told he had what at the time was known as “the slim disease”. The name came from how the disease was known to cause extreme and rapid weight loss. It was associated with gay men and the very sexually immoral. But Muriuki was none of those.
And for nearly 27 of those years, he resisted ARVs. He had said that: Eating a healthy diet, keeping active, a positive attitude, and being sexually responsible, has helped maintain a stable CD4 count of over 400 throughout the 31 years. My viral load has never been detectable.
According to the National Empowerment Network of People living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK), Dr Muriuki died at 8.00 pm on Monday night.
The organization stated that that he had stage four colorectal cancer and had been receiving treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital for two years.
Muriuki was an accountant at the Nairobi City Council in September 1987 when he revealed his HIV status.