Ronnie Mutimusekwa was the first Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome activist in Zimbabwe, Africa.
Education
Mutimusekwa worked tirelessly to promote awareness of the disease, telling his story at schools, churches and beerhalls. He formed a support group for people suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, called Ihawu (Shield), of which he was chairman. Ihawu organized meetings in parks and factories where members tried to educate the public.
Mutimusekwa received some funding from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Matabeleland Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Council to set up office in Bulawayo where he helped develop educational methods for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome prevention in rural areas, like community theatre.
Mutimusekwa"s story was also included in teaching materials abroad. Nearly all children in Zimbabwe are currently taught about Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in schools.
Career
Ronnie Mutimusekwa (birthname Rogers Mutimusakwa) was a Zimbabwean citizen who made international headlines in 1989 when he publicly revealed that he, a heterosexual man, was diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. His aim was to break the taboo surrounding Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, hoping that it would inspire others like him, as well as help in the prevention efforts. At the time it was wrongfully assumed that Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was a minor issue in Zimbabwe, confined to promiscuous homosexual men and female prostitutes. The publicity surrounding Mutimusekwa’s confession set off a series of changes in the attitude towards Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in Zimbabwe, along with the appointment of Doctor Timothy Stamps as minister, who took over the Health portfolio in 1990, and the news of vice-president Nkomo’s son Ernest Thuthani having died of the disease in 1996.
The spread of the disease peaked in 1997 when more than a quarter of the population was estimated to be infected, after which this figure gradually declined to about 15% in 2007.
Ronnie Mutimusekwa died on July 13, 1992 in Njube, a township of Bulawayo, and was buried in the village of Mutimusakwa in the Mhondoro area. Auxillia Chimusoro (1956-1998): The first woman to publicly announce being Human Immunodeficiency Virus-positive, also in 1989.
Chimusoro became actively involved in the anti-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome struggle in 1992 when she formed support groups Batanai and ZNNP+. An annual award by the United States Agency for International Development (United States Agency for International Development) is named after her.
Eliot Magunje (1965-2003): Zimbabwean actor whose Human Immunodeficiency Virus-positive status was accidentally revealed in Zimbabwe by Cable News Network. Magunje decided to make the best of the situation and became information, education and communications officer of The Centre, one of Zimbabwe"s largest Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome service organizations.
Frenk Guni: Guni is a former coordinator of the ZNNP+ and a former executive board member for the National Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Council of Zimbabwe, living under political asylum in the United States of America since 2003. Sunanda Ray: Sunanda Ray is a British doctor who founded the Women Aids Support Network (WASN) in November 1989.
Views
Doctor Ray has been instrumental in the formation of many Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome support groups for women, in the education on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome prevention methods and the assessment of major risk factors from a scientific point of view.