Jeffrey Misomali spent his youth in the shadow of Africa’s AIDS epidemic, and now he is helping to mount Africa’s counter-attack. A citizen of Malawi, Misomali saw friends and family members succumb to the HIV-related illness that once appeared untreatable. The advent of widespread use of anti-retroviral drugs has started to change the equation – …
An LGBT advocate and HIV activist, Adebisi Alimi was the first person to ever come out as gay on Nigerian television. After an attempt on his life in 2007, he fled to the UK where he was granted political asylum. Before he left, he founded The Independent Project for Equal Rights-Nigeria, where he served as …
At a young age, Arinaitwe lost his parents and four siblings to infectious diseases, which included HIV/AIDS in rural western Uganda. As an “AIDS orphan” (a phrase which he uses critically), he experienced the often-problematic international development system first hand. In his essay, he wrote, “I encountered a republic of NGOs claiming their legitimacy in …
Msimang’s early career focused on helping international organizations such as UNAIDS forge HIV/AIDS policies that responded to the specific needs of African women and girls swept up in the global pandemic. She eventually rose to become executive director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, supporting initiatives on human rights, good governance and democracy …
Infection rates among young gay men are on the rise—and veterans of the fight against AIDS are struggling to find a way to get the message out to the next generation. In a small community hall in London’s Soho, a group of young gay men gather. They are 16 to 25 years old. They come …