„There is a real danger that COVID-19 could become an epidemic that divides the world“

Mark Heywood is a South African human rights and social justice activist based in Johannesburg. He was one of the founders of the Treatment Action Campaign that led the successful fight for access to medicines for people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa between 1998 and 2008.In 2010 he co-founded SECTION 27, a public interest law centre that aims to influence and use the law to protect, promote and advance human rights, in particular access to healthcare and basic education. The organisation’s name is a reference to Section 27 of the South African constitution that enshrines the right to health care, food, water and social security. Since 2019 he is the co-editor of a new section of the South African online newspaper the Daily Maverick, with a focus on social justice and civil society.