Sheila Tlou

Sheila Dinotshe Tlou is a Botswana nurse and nursing educator who specializes in HIV/AIDS and women's health, and in human resources for health and health systems development. She took a nursing degree at Dillard University in 1974, a master's in education at Teachers College, Columbia University, a master's in nursing at the Catholic University of America, and a doctorate in community health nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1990. She has taught at the University of Botswana since 1980, led its nursing education and served as its HIV/AIDS coordinator. She was Minister of Health of Botswana from 2004 to 2008, and for seven years was UNAIDS regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, covering 21 countries. Much of her work concerns gender and HIV prevention, including helping women negotiate safe sex and reducing the stigma of AIDS. She co-edited the reference book AIDS in Africa (2002), received the Florence Nightingale Medal in 2003, and is co-chair of the Nursing Now Global Campaign and the Global HIV Prevention Coalition.