Salisu Ahmed, a 66-year-old Nigerian man, has become the fourth person globally to be cured of HIV. In a recent interview with reality star Doyin David, Ahmed shared his experience of living with the virus for 31 years. He revealed that he contracted HIV after his first extramarital affair and discussed the challenges he faced due to the stigma surrounding the disease.
Ahmed spoke about being denied access to shared facilities, losing his teaching job, and being abandoned by his wife and children. “I was not allowed to use the bathroom or the toilet in the compound. I was a teacher, but I was asked to stop coming to school. My wife left me and took the children,” he recounted.
Ahmed was cured of the virus following a stem cell transplant at the City of Hope Medical Center in the U.S. According to the center, he entered remission after discontinuing antiretroviral therapy. The medical team noted that Ahmed became the fourth person in the world, and the oldest, to achieve long-term remission from HIV after receiving stem cells from a donor with a rare genetic mutation.
