Mr. Speaker, Winstone Zulu is a man on a mission: to educate the world about HIV and tuberculosis, both the challenge and, more importantly, the solution.
Winstone was the first Zambian to publicly acknowledge his HIV status in 1990. In 1997 he contracted TB. He was cured, but he knows first-hand the toll that it takes.
He watched four of his brothers die due to a lack of access to TB drugs, drugs that can provide a cure for about $20.
In the space of one week in 1990, his brother Erasmus, his wife, and his brother Christopher died.
Nelson Mandela said we need more advocates like Winstone. Indeed we do.
Today, Results Canada and Aeras have brought Winstone here to remind us that TB is not inevitable and does not need to be a death sentence.
Canada must do more to stop TB, to save lives, and to support heroes like Winstone Zulu, who has lived the nightmare of TB and is now working toward his dream of eradicating it.
Our fellow citizens of this planet deserve no less than that.