Shaibu talks about living with hepatitis B in Tanzania

Shaibu talks about living with hepatitis B in Tanzania

Shaibu is from Tanzania and found out he had hepatitis B at a young age during school. Shaibu's brother also had hepatitis B. As a young child, Shaibu and his brother were unfairly isolated from others in school because of their hepatitis B mostly because of low awareness and knowledge about hepatitis B in Tanzania. Paying for treatment and care for hepatitis B was a big challenge for him and his family so much so that they could not get medical care for an entire year. The family had to sell livestock and fundraise to try to get care. After a year when they were able to get care, they discovered his brother had cirrhosis which is a scaring of the liver. Soon after he died. Since his brother's death, Shaibu has been working to raise awareness about hepatitis B. He encourages people to get tested and spread the word that hepatitis B is not a death sentence, if you follow doctors' recommendations, avoid alcohol and tobacco and maintain a healthy life you can live long.