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Bring HIV/AIDS out into the open, Madiba urges
Roger Friedman. The Star. 22 October 2002. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Former president Nelson Mandela has urged South Africa's traditional leaders to help remove the stigma around HIV/AIDS.
"In jail I had TB. As you know, TB is one of the killers in this country," said Madiba, while explaining his own experience with potentially life-threatening illnesses on Tuesday.
"I announced to my friends that I had TB and none of them stigmatised me," he told a gathering of Eastern Cape traditional leaders at the Mqgesha Great Place near King William's Town.
"When I found I had cancer of the prostate, I called a press conference. When I discussed the matter with some of my friends, they said it was wrong, that you should not announce you had cancer, especially prostate cancer.
"I said I was old, that I was married and would never marry again. I could announce that I had prostate cancer."
Mandela said that HIV/AIDS has become so stigmatised that there are many people who claim the disease didn't exist.
"It is still very difficult for affected people to talk openly about HIV/AIDS because they face hostility and discrimination. They are made to feel like outsiders within their own communities.
"They are cast aside and made to feel that they do not belong. We must provide a positive environment for people to decare their HIV/AIDS status," he said.
"Many of our people still do not know the basic facts. They must know that currently there is no cure for HIV/AIDS.
"People need to know how the disease is spread and what measures can be taken to protect them.
"We as leaders have the responsibility of addressing wrong beliefs surrounding HIV/AIDS that lead to violence against women and children, and discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS."
Tuesday's event, hosted by King Sandile of the Nqgika, was part of a national traditional leaders' HIV/AIDS project initiated by Mandela in North West province in August.
It is being managed by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and is linked to the Department of Health's traditional leader programme.
Mandela's was presented with a young Nguni heifer by Sandile upon his arrival at the Mqgesha Great Place.
After short addresses by several traditional leaders, a young mother with HIV/AIDS stunned the audience into silence with an eloquent talk about the power of positive thought and healthy eating.
"In 1997 I was seven months pregnant when I underwent a routine HIV/AIDS test which came back positive," Criselda Kananda said.
She'd read about HIV/AIDS, and was under the impression that it was something that mostly affected prostitutes.
"When I was diagnosed, I was told that my daughter would only live for about six months. Today I have a beautiful, healthy 4-year-old daughter," Kananda said.
"I changed the buzzword for HIV to "Health Is Vital'.
"Learn as much as you can and eat healthily," was her advice to those finding themselves in a similar predicament.
After her input, Mandela hailed Kananda as a role-model for our society. |
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