Peter Busse

Peter Busse (1958-2006) was a South African AIDS activist. After his diagnosis in 1985, he became involved in HIV/AIDS advocacy and education, including co-founding the Township AIDS Project (TAP) with Simon Nkoli. One of the first South Africans to publicly disclose their HIV-positive status, he also co-founded the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA). In his later years, he worked as a consultant and workshop facilitator for various NGOs and institutions.

Biography

Early life and education Peter Graham Busse was born on 13 February 1958 in East London. He had two brothers and was raised in Cape Town, where he attended Abbotts College for secondary school. At the University of Cape Town, he studied to be a librarian. As a white South African during apartheid, he was required to serve in the South African Defense Force, but he left the country so he would not be conscripted. First he moved to the Netherlands and then to Swaziland, where he served as Chief Librarian for the National Library Service. TAP was a Soweto-based organization that provided HIV/AIDS education to the Black and LGBTQ communities. Busse was also a founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Organization of Witwatersrand (GLOW), a gay rights organization closely affiliated with TAP.

National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (1994–1999) Busse co-founded the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) with Mercy Makhalemela in 1994 and later became director in 1997. At the time, Busse estimated that fewer than 100 South Africans were openly living with HIV. On World AIDS Day, NAPWA volunteer Gugu Dlamini disclosed her status on television and radio; she was murdered at her home by a mob later that month.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which aimed to increase access to HIV medication, was initially established as part of NAPWA in late 1998. TAC soon broke away from NAPWA because of disagreements about tactics; in particular, TAC wanted NAPWA to be more progressive and militant. Some NAPWA members challenged Busse's leadership, alleging mismanagement and racism, while Busse maintained that his detractors opposed him because he was white and gay. Ibis released a short documentary about Busse delivering the workshop in Namibia. Busse also assisted in running International AIDS Society conferences, including their 2000 conference in Durban for which he co-chaired the Community Programme Committee with Clarence Mini. Around 250 people attended. He later stated that: "Positive living in a very broad sense of the word is having hope and believing that HIV is not equal to AIDS and not equal to death."

In the late 1990s, there was a debate about whether foreign drug companies should be allowed to conduct clinical trials for HIV medication in South Africa because most participants would not be able to access treatment after the trials ended. In a 1997 article in the British Medical Journal, Busse argued that people with AIDS should be able to make their own decisions about enrolling in trials and that "many people feel that access to limited and potentially beneficial treatment is better than no treatment at all".

Selected works and media appearances Busse, Peter (1997-03-22). "Strident, but essential: the voices of people with AIDS". BMJ. Busse, Peter (February 2000). "Peter Busse". In LIVING OPENLY: Stories and images of HIV positive South Africans. Department of Health. Williamson, Sue (2002). From the Inside: Peter Busse. Busse, Peter (2003). "Love, Hope and Courage". In Men, HIV and AIDS. VSO-RAISA. Phiri, Leo (2004). Aids and Me. Mubasen Film & Video Productions. IBIS. Busse, Peter (2006). "There Was an Incredible Sense of Excitement and History in the Making". In Pride: Protest and Celebration.