JOHANNESBURG, Dec 1 (AFP) - Former South African president Nelson Mandela on Sunday lent his weight in the fight against AIDS, but defended the government's policies on research into the safety of anti-retroviral drugs.
Mandela, 84, has been widely credited for nudging the government's AIDS policy towards providing anti-retroviral drugs to all.
Speaking at a World AIDS Day commemoration in Bloemfontein, in central South Africa, the elderly statesman again called on the government to make drugs accessible to the public sector.
Mandela has repeatedly criticised the government's stance in the past, previously saying: "We must find the means to take life-saving treatment to all who need it, regardless of whether they can pay for it, or where they live or whatever reason."
But on Sunday, Mandela also came to the South African government's defence regarding research into the safety of anti-retrovirals.
"They (the government) are right in conducting the research," said Mandela, who wants anti-retrovirals provided with a warning that research into its safety was still being conducted.
Patients should be told that use of the drugs would be their own responsibility, he said.
Mandela added that he supported the government "without reservation" for conducting the research, as conditions in Africa such as poverty and illiteracy rates were far different from those in Europe.
In the private sector, the wily statesman has also made his presence felt, expected to increase pressure for the funding of 18 anti-retroviral pilot sites to treat 9,000 state employees at an estimated cost of 80 million rand (8.6 million dollars/euros).
The Johannesburg-based Sunday Independent said the project, a joint venture between the South African Medical Association (SAMA) and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, was expected to be launched Tuesday.
The programme, which enjoyed the support of non-governmental groups in South Africa, HIV/AIDS advocacy groups and activists, is to be known as Tshepang, which means "Have Hope" in Sesotho, the country's third indigenous language.
It is a small step in meeting the request of AIDS sufferer Zackie Achmat, chairman of the AIDS lobby group the Treatment Action Campaign.
He refuses to take anti-retrovirals until the government agrees to universal distribution.
Mandela visited Achmat in July, and the AIDS activist reportedly agreed to end his no-drugs protest if the government would create the 18 pilot sites.
South African President Thabo Mbeki was briefed by Mandela on Achmat's stance and urged him to give anti-retrovirals to public sector employees.
The government subsequently announced in October that it had set up a joint committee consisting of treasury and health ministry officials to investigate the costs of providing the drugs on a broader scale.
South Africa has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world, with five million of its 46 million citizens carrying the virus, and 360,000 deaths in 2001.
UN figures show that more than 20 percent of South African adults are infected while 660,000 South African children have been orphaned as a result of AIDS.
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