Treatment Action Campaign

HIV/AIDS diarists Thembisa Ngubane died last week at the Hospital. She was diagnosed with TB resistance. Thembisa was the HIV/AIDS activist in South Africa. Over the past years, Thembi's diary has been broadcast in South Africa (in English, Xhosa, and Zulu), Australia, Canada, the U.K., and on the BBC World Service, reaching an estimated 50 million listeners around the world. Thembi has travelled across the U.S. and South Africa presenting her story in high schools, universities, clinics, and large public events. Along the way, Thembi met the US president Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and hundreds of young people infected or affected by the disease.

Through dealing with the virus in this way, she found the voice needed to speak to her country. She addressed the South African Parliament in March 2007, detailing her experience as both an AIDS survivor and in watching fellow AIDS survivors at clinics. She made it her mission to raise awareness among her countrymen and in doing so became a global voice.