The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) was founded on 10 December 1998 in Cape Town, South Africa. We campaign for treatment for people with HIV and to reduce new HIV infections. Our efforts have resulted in many life-saving interventions, including the implementation of country-wide mother-to-child transmission prevention and antiretroviral treatment programmes. The TAC also runs a treatment literacy campaign: this is a training programme on the science of HIV treatment and prevention.
It sounds like a good opportunity for me to put my money where my proverbial mouth is, you know? Yes, I’ve ‘cared’ about AIDS since I realized how stigmatized the issue is (as well as my own stereotypes), and since I’ve met some very passionate individuals fighting for AIDS awareness and financially feasible therapy. But I have no idea...I don’t know anyone who is HIV positive.
The leader of the NGO, Zackie Achmat, has quite a story. Himself HIV+, He put his money where his proverbial mouth is, refusing to take antiretroviral therapy (in my understanding, drugs that can slow, if not eliminate, the progression of HIV symptoms) until a substantial program was legislated by the South African government to provide the same therapy at a reasonable cost. You can read more about him here, at Wikipedia.
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