'I am also a human being!' Antiretroviral treatment in local moral worlds

The experiences and practices of antiretroviral drug consumers in Tanzania are shaped by economic scarcity, limited state-provided social welfare, and fragile kinship-based solidarity. Embedding antiretroviral therapy (ART) in patients' 'local moral worlds' brings further existential dimensions to the fore that articulate closely with the priority the treatment acquires in their lives. An exemplary case study of a middle-aged HIV-positive man suggests that dignity, social recognition, and belonging may be of central interest and temporarily overshadow patients' concern for mere survival. A stronger focus on patients' moral concerns contributes to a better understanding of the complex dynamics that prevent HIV-positive people from becoming the 'pharmaceutical selves' that are promoted during treatment enrolment. Moreover, it is indispensable to account for the lived experiences of patients struggling with what too readily has been termed a 'chronic disease'.