Tag: campaigner

Nkosi Johnson died of HIV/AID in 2001 when he was only 12 years old. He was born with the virus in Johannesburg, South Africa. At the time of his death, Nkosi was the longest-surviving child born with HIV. Nkosi’s mum was also HIV positive and became too ill to look after him, so he was adopted by a public relations officer from an AIDS care centre. In 1997, when Nkosi was just eight years old, his name became known when a local primary school near where he lived refused to take him as a pupil. It was because of his infection. It caused huge political issues for South Africa, which forced changes to the law there. New anti-discrimination policies were put in place and that stopped children being banned from schools based on their health. After the law changed, the schoo...