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Sibusiso Dlamini’s Journey Through Substance Use and Hepatitis C Virus Treatment in South Africa
Storytelling is a powerful advocacy tool that connects people across borders while promoting greater understanding about particular societal issues. Storytelling also promotes discussions between members of affected communities and stakeholders, and aids in elevating community voices and promoting engagement about important issues and potential solutions.
This Hepatitis C virus (HCV) storyboard describes the experience of Sibusiso Dlamini in Tshwane, South Africa. Sibusiso is a young man who began using substances for leisure in high school, and later in life switched to injecting substances for a stronger high.
With his family and friends not being able to understand and support him, Sibusiso ends up on the streets. While on the street, Sibusiso experiences stigma, rejection and witnesses the rape of a fellow homeless person. He later learns about a harm reduction clinic which he visits to seek care. The harm reduction clinic provides him with the care he needs and links him to HCV care where he is tested and cured of HCV alongside his future wife Ayanda. Other people equally experiencing homelessness are not as lucky.
This story highlights the role of injecting drug use in the high rates of HCV, and the importance of harm reduction in identifying and linking people to HCV care.