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"Let's embrace those with HIV/AIDS" - Nelson Mandela
Di Caelers. 02 December 2003. Cape Argus. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Nelson Mandela made a heartfelt appeal to South Africans to "go beyond mere declarations", and to embrace people with HIV/AIDS, to show them support, care and love.
That was the World AIDS Day message from the man proclaimed yesterday as the "leader in the global movement against HIV/AIDS", who warned that people who did not help those with HIV/AIDS were making "a tragic mistake".
"We have to do everything in our power to destroy stigma. I myself have invited a number of HIV-infected people to my house for lunch and breakfast, so the public see how they should be treating people (with HIV/AIDS)."
Mandela was speaking at GF Jooste Hospital at the launch of the first public-private HIV/AIDS treatment site in South Africa, fresh from the success of the historic 46664 concert, which contributed R5 million to the site.
He said he had followed the example of the late Princess Diana, whose actions, he said, "smashed that ignorance" when she spent time with patients in an HIV/AIDS ward.
Stigma dehumanised people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, he said, and resulted in many deaths, not from the disease, but "because of the feeling that they are no longer human beings".
"We must do everything in our power to destroy stigma. We must go beyond mere declarations and do something positive to show we embrace these people, support, care for and love them," Mandela said.
Referring to the GF Jooste initiative, the result of a collaboration between the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the SA Medical Association and the provincial authorities, Mandela said health was a fundamental human right and could not be "a question of income".
"We must ensure treatment is made available to those who need it, most especially those who can't afford it," he said. A total 300 patients at GF Jooste will be treated with anti-retrovirals courtesy of this project, called the Tshepang Trust.
Mandela acknowledged the significance of the government announcement of its approval for "the world's largest anti-retroviral treatment plan", saying people had have hope that it was possible to lead a healthy and fulfilling life - even with HIV/AIDS.
He would like to see more partnerships in which the public and private sectors united against the pandemic.
But it was vital to remember that treatment could not be separated from prevention, care and support efforts.
"I hope anti-retrovirals will promote greater awareness about the disease and encourage voluntary counselling and testing for HIV among all sexually-active people," he said.
"The focus must be on treating, taking care of and supporting people with HIV/AIDS, but every attempt must also be made to ensure the millions not infected remain so." |
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