IAS announces Prudence Mabele Prize for female HIV activists

The International AIDS Society (IAS) announces an endowment prize in honour of the first black woman to publicly reveal her HIV-positive status in South Africa – Prudence Mabele. The Prudence Mabele Prize will be awarded to a female-identified advocate of HIV and gender justice, the organization said in a statement copied to ghanabusinessnews.com.

According to the IAS, this is the largest prize ever to be awarded at an International AIDS Conference.

“It is endowed by the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations (OSF), in partnership with the Positive Women’s Network of South Africa,” it said.

This year’s recipient, the statement said whose work and personal commitment best embodies the values, spirit and activism of Prudence Mabele, will be publicly honoured at a designated high-level session at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018).

“During the event, the prize amount will be announced and presented to the honoree, which will be followed by remarks from other prominent HIV and gender justice advocates and leaders,” it added.

Mabele publicly revealed her HIV-positive status in South Africa in 1992. She was a founding member of the Treatment Action Campaign and founder of the Positive Women’s Network. She died in July 2017.

Follow this link for details on filing nominations.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi