Por: Agencia de Noticias da Aids
The activist Mussauer Ronaldo de Lima, who suffered from leukemia, has died on Monday at New York City. Diagnosed HIV positive in 1989, Ronaldo engaged on the social movement to combat AIDS in 1991, at the Grupo pela Vidda of Rio de Janeiro and in 1993 became president of the institution.
At the Ministry of Health, he played an important role in what used to be the National AIDS Coordination, where he was in charge of the informatics field. Ronaldo has Idealized and supported the implementation of the Global Network for Research on HIV vaccines. Since 2001, he was working as director of the informatics field for IAVI, a NGO based in the US that operates in the field of HIV vaccines.
Ronaldo was quoted in the book "The 100 people who shaped the history of the fight against AIDS in Brazil," Launched by the Grupo de Apoio à Prevenção da Aids (GAPA) in São Paulo.
In a statement, the Grupo pela Vidda-SP mourned the death of Ronaldo: "The greatest memory that we will keep is the strong and dedicated activist, the beloved and hardworking person, from wich the noble spirit is admired by us all. "
The AIDS and Viral Hepatitis Department of the Ministry of Health has also left a message in a statement signed by the directors Dirceu Greco and Eduardo Barbosa: " “We manifest our solidarity with friends, partners and families, and the recognition of all the dedicated contribution to the fight against AIDS. "