Nelson Mandela, one of the great champions of human rights, freedom – and public health – died on 5 December in Johannesburg. He was 95.
South Africa’s first black president, who spent 27 years in prison for his long campaign against apartheid, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, among many other honours.
After he stepped down as president, Mandela became a high-profile international ambassador, campaigning for action on HIV/AIDS and other issues.
“He was a hugely influential spokesperson, and he helped build visibility for and acceptance of the deadly link between tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS”, said Jose Luis Castro, Interim Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union). “For this and countless other reasons, he was a visionary leader and will be greatly missed”.
At the XV International AIDS conference in 2004, Mandela gave a speech about the TB-HIV epidemic, concluding: “The world has made defeating AIDS a top priority. This is a blessing. But TB remains ignored. Today we are calling on the world to recognize that we can't fight AIDS unless we do much more to fight TB as well.”
Read Nelson Mandela’s 2004 speech on TB and HIV
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