South African Activist Ivan Toms Dies  | News | Advocate.com

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March 27, 2008
South African Activist Ivan Toms Dies

Ivan Toms, director of health in Cape Town, South Africa, died in his home Tuesday of meningococcal meningitis, reports Independent Online News. He was 55.

Well known in Cape Town as a gay rights and antiapartheid activist, "he was too young to die," close friend and Democratic Alliance member Robin Carlisle told the News.

In the late 1970s Toms set up a clinic in Crossroads, just outside Cape Town, where there were no health facilities. According to The [Toronto] Mail & Guardian, Toms was the only doctor in the town providing medical care for over 60,000 people. Since his appointment as director of health in 2002, Toms has helped his nation battle HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and many other diseases. He also pioneered usage of antiretrovirals.

African National Congress Western Cape provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha told the News, "The passing of Ivan Toms is a great loss to the people of the city, the province, and the country." (The Advocate) 

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