A doctor based in northern Namibia, whose patient is claiming that she is now negative, said that it's not true that 45-year-old Erica Abisai from Ondangwa has been cured of the disease through prayer but that her body is responding well to treatment.
Abisai, a mother of four from Uupopo informal settlement, was diagnosed HIV positive about 18 years ago. She started her anti-retroviral therapy six years ago. Still today, Abisai is on anti-retroviral therapy although she claims that prayer has stamped out the disease.
"Even though I have been on medication ever since I tested positive, my viral load was very high at some stage and my body started to get weak. I developed a lung infection," she said. In 2011, she joined a church in Ondangwa and has been a member ever since.
Abisai further said that one day she told the church members about her status and they started praying for her healing. On 2 August, Abisai said she went back to the hospital for another viral load re-test. The results, she claimed, which came on 6 September showed that her status was negative.
"When the doctor told me that I had tested HIV negative, I could not believe it. It was like a miracle happening to me but the doctor told me to continue taking my medications until he would perform another test to find the right medications for me," Abisai expressed her excitement.
Although Abisai claims to have been cured, she urged people on ARV treatment to continue taking their medication and follow their doctors' instructions.
The doctor, Chiwira Munashe, who tested Abisai for her viral load denied she was declared her HIV negative. However her viral load is now so low that the machine cannot detect it.
