In his public explanation for firing his progressive AIDS realist Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge back in 2007, former South African President Thabo Mbeki asked the question “Who will be our heroes and heroines?” President Mbeki raised this important question, noting that every culture defines its own heroes. He was making the point that Deputy Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was being held up as a heroine in the international community and Former president Mbeki’s question has inspired many of us to ponder who our heroes are in the fight against AIDS. I have my list of heroes, for sure. I became curious about the heroes of others in the fight against AIDS. After having spent the past couple years focused on denialists, I thought it would be good to take stock and honor the real heroes in the history of AIDS.
Who are your heroes and heroines in the fight against AIDS? Who are the advocates, activists, educators, providers, caregivers, doctors, nurses, volunteers, social and community leaders and others who inspire you? Please share your heroes with us by posting a comment to this page. Be sure to say who they are and why you find him/her inspiring. I will lead off with a couple of my own.
Sister Monica of Cape Town South Africa represents just one of the many thousands of HIV/AIDS service providers and care givers worldwide who provide assistance to those in need often at considerable personal expense. She works tirelessly to treat and cure sexually transmitted diseases and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
ReplyDeleteSalim S. Abdool Karim was among the first public health scientists to chronicle the emerging AIDS epidemic in South Africa. He was also among the scientists appointed to the 2000 South African Presidential AIDS Panel and has spoken out against HIV/AIDS denialism in his country. He remains a leading AIDS scientist in South Africa heading up major prevention and treatment programs in the area of his country hit hardest by HIV/AIDS, with nearly half of all pregnant women testing HIV positive.
ReplyDeleteSusan Cornutt is an activist who turned her passion into action. Susan was a founding member and Board President of the AIDS Survival Project, which served as one of Atlanta’s leading AIDS service organizations. Susan works continuously as an advocate and activist breaking down all barriers and debunking all stereotypes about AIDS.
ReplyDeleteZackie Achmat is a founding member of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in South Africa. He has stood up to both the injustice of an Apartheid government and the immorality of an HIV/AIDS denialist health policy, in one country in one lifetime. His influence, however, extends well outsider of South Africa, as numerous other treatment activist groups have emerged throughout Africa, clearly inspired by Achmat and his colleagues at TAC. Zackie Achmat has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Price.
ReplyDeleteThe families and friends who do not turn their backs on those they care about because they are livng with HIV and the stigmas attached to it.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. Many thanks. Love the dedication to Dan....a true role model for pursuing truth and science regarding HIV....and a beautiful person.
ReplyDeleteYou rock.