Kami has been on since 2002. The hiv positive muppet is for african audiences (in south africa for instance, as many as one in nine have HIV, many of them children.)
from wikipedia: In 2002, Sesame Workshop announced that an HIV-positive character would be introduced to Takalani Sesame, the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded South African version of the show. This idea was considered crucial for an area where AIDS is an epidemic. The HIV+ character's name, Kami, is derived from Kamogelo, which means acceptance or welcome in Setswana. Kami is a furry yellow five-year-old HIV-positive girl muppet orphaned by AIDS who always has the sniffles. Her backstory is that she contracted the disease as the result of a transfusion of tainted blood received as an infant; her mother also died of HIV/AIDS. Kami illustrates to Takalani's viewers how to deal with loss and sad feelings in a way that three- to seven-year-olds can understand.
from wikipedia:
In 2002, Sesame Workshop announced that an HIV-positive character would be introduced to Takalani Sesame, the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded South African version of the show. This idea was considered crucial for an area where AIDS is an epidemic. The HIV+ character's name, Kami, is derived from Kamogelo, which means acceptance or welcome in Setswana. Kami is a furry yellow five-year-old HIV-positive girl muppet orphaned by AIDS who always has the sniffles. Her backstory is that she contracted the disease as the result of a transfusion of tainted blood received as an infant; her mother also died of HIV/AIDS. Kami illustrates to Takalani's viewers how to deal with loss and sad feelings in a way that three- to seven-year-olds can understand.