Child AIDS activist Nkosi Johnson born

Nkosi Johnson born in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He inspired millions in Africa and around the world to action in the fight against the epidemic.

Nkosi was HIV-positive from birth, and was legally adopted by Gail Johnson, a Johannesburg Public Relations practitioner, when his own mother, debilitated by the disease, was no longer able to care for him.

The young Nkosi Johnson first came to public attention in 1997, when a primary school in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville refused to accept him as a pupil because of his HIV-positive status. The incident caused a furor at the highest political level and the school later reversed its decision.

Nkosi was the keynote speaker at the 13th International AIDS conference, where he encouraged AIDS victims to be open about the disease and to seek equal treatment. "Care for us and accept us," he said at the conference. "We are all human beings. We are normal. We have hands. We have feet. We can walk, we can talk, we have needs just like everyone else. Don't be afraid of us - we are all the same." Nelson Mandela referred to Nkosi as an"icon of the struggle for life."

He died at the age of 12.