AfricaHealthJoe Muriuki, First Kenyan To Disclose HIV Status, Dies of Cancer At 62

Dr. Joe Muriuki, the first Kenyan to go public about his Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) status over 35 years ago, has died at the age of 62.

The National Empowerment Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK) announced his demise in a statement on its Twitter page on February 15, 2022.

According to Nelson Otuoma, the National Coordinator of NEPHAK, Muriuki had been discharged from the Kenyatta National Hospital about a week ago after a month-long stay and would succumb to cancer at around 8 p.m. Monday at a city hospital where he had been rushed.

According to NEPHAK, on September 20, 1987, Muriuki went public with the news that he had tested positive for HIV.  At a time when HIV/AIDS patients were shunned and ostracized, Muriuki is lauded for being the first Kenyan to go public about their health status.

In the 1980s, living with HIV was a nightmare, so Muriuki had to deal with adversity on daily basis. At that time, he was serving as an accountant at the Nairobi City Council and due to the stigma and uncertainty that surrounded the disease, he resigned and moved to his hometown, Nyeri to await his end of days.

“Everybody was looking at me like an alien when they learned of my status and even at work, my chair had to be thrown away. I, therefore, decided to travel home to Nyeri to go and die there,” he was quoted as saying in an interview.

Joe Muriuki lived with HIV for over 30 years after he was told by his doctors in 1987 that he had only three months to live. And for nearly 27 of those years, he resisted ARVs, adding that he maintained a stable CD4 count of over 400 through a healthy diet, keeping active and a positive attitude.

Prior to his demise, Muriuki served at the HIV tribunal as a representative of people living with HIV. He was a member of the regional task force that worked on the formulation of the East African HIV and Aids Management Act. He also founded the ‘Know Aids Society,’ an HIV/AIDS non-profit organization.