Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - July 16, 2004
Preeyanat Phanayanggoor and Reuters
The epidemic would test the leadership skills of not only political leaders but also their counterparts from every sector of society, he said.
Leadership involved personal commitments and concrete actions, as well as clear visions and imaginative actions, said Mr Mandela in his speech at a special concert, organised by the 46664 Global Campaign, to raise funds for HIV/Aids victims. During his imprisonment in South Africa, Mr Mandela was Prisoner No. 466/64.
The former president called on governments, private organisations and people around the world to give more financial aid to HIV/Aids programmes, particularly the Global Fund Against Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
He also urged countries to develop comprehensive programmes and make policy changes where necessary to include the treatment of marginalised people such as refugees, intravenous drug users, prisoners and sex workers.
He also warned that the global war on Aids could be lost if the world ignored tuberculosis, often a death sentence for people infected with HIV.
"The world has made defeating Aids its top priority. This is a blessing, but TB remains ignored," he said.
"We cannot win the battle against Aids if we do not also fight TB. TB is too often a death sentence for people with Aids. It does not have to be this way."
Mr Mandela described his own bout with the disease while imprisoned for 27 years for fighting apartheid before leading South Africa to democracy in 1994.
"I went to my friends in prison, Walter Sisulu and others, and told them I was found to have the TB germ. There were long faces drawn," said Mr Mandela, who recovered after four months of medical treatment.
Mr Mandela, who turns 86 on Sunday, said resources for detecting and treating tuberculosis were woefully short despite the world having had a cure for more than 50 years.
Research into the dual tuberculosis and Aids epidemic got a boost on Thursday with a $45 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The philanthropic organisation set up by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said the money would fund studies into strategies to control tuberculosis in areas with high HIV infection rates.
"This is a catastrophic collision of two devastating epidemics," said Richard Chiasson, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Centre for Tuberculosis Research leading the research consortium.
CREATE, the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the Aids-TB Epidemic, will conduct three large-scale community studies in Africa and South America over seven years.
Scientists want to improve detection of tuberculosis to ensure people can be treated and do not infect others. They will study a therapy that aims to prevent those infected with latent tuberculosis from developing an active form of the disease.
Most developing nations use a therapy plan called DOTS, which has limited reach because it targets only those with active TB.
Health experts hope Mr Mandela's message will convince people with HIV and tuberculosis to tell their stories and raise awareness about the dual epidemic.
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