Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - Saturday December 1, 2001
Brendan Boyle

"Nothing threatens us more today than HIV/AIDS...AIDS is a scourge threatening to undo all the gains we made in our generations of struggle," Mandela said at his third public appearance on World Aids Day.

Earlier Mandela said provision of necessary drugs was the first step to halting the spread of the epidemic. His forthright comments contrasted sharply with current president Thabo Mbeki's ambiguous stance on the issue.

"For those who are HIV-positive, we must ensure that they get the proper treatment and drugs which are going to help them resist the pandemic," Mandela said following a visit to the Beautiful Gate Home in Cape Town's Crossroads shanty town.

Mandela, 83, cuddled infected and dying children at the home and answered questions from black and white school children at a community meeting hall later in neighboring Nyanga.

Africa's most respected statesman insisted repeatedly in his answers to the children's questions that the government should provide drugs to prolong the lives of people already infected with HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

"We must combine various strategies, firstly giving people the necessary drugs to try and prevent the disease taking the upper hand," he said.

South Africa has more people living with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world -- close to five million people or one in nine of the population are affected -- and the government has been widely criticized for its handling of the crisis.

This week, AIDS activists and doctors took the government to court in a bid to force it to provide a drug called nevirapine that could cut the risk of pregnant women passing on HIV to their babies by up to 50 percent.

Government lawyers argued the cost of providing such treatment would cripple the public health system given the numbers affected and questioned the efficacy of the drug.

LEADERS MUST HEAD FIGHT

Mbeki, who has provoked widespread anger for questioning the causal link between HIV and AIDS and for not speaking more openly about the disease, has often said he is concerned about the safety of such drugs.

Mandela said heads of state should lead the fight against AIDS, which has infected more than 40 million people worldwide.

"Heads of state and their first ladies must be in the forefront of the campaign to fight AIDS," Mandela said, naming the leaders of Botswana, Uganda and Senegal as role models.

"These presidents themselves are leading the campaign...they pick up children with AIDS...," he said, also praising Britain's Princess Diana, who died in 1997, for taking a lead in showing that physical contact with AIDS sufferers is safe.

"The president, of course, is very busy...He does not have enough time to concentrate on this," Mandela said.

At his third stop to open a museum and ferryport serving Robben Island, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in jail, Mandela said he had been called by Mbeki's office about his earlier comments.

He denied attacking Mbeki, adding: "I said the countries which have succeeded in bringing down the level of AIDS are those where the president of the country takes the lead."

"I said our President and Deputy President are doing the same thing, but the difficulty with the President is that he is busy with Africa and countries beyond...As a result he cannot concentrate on the problems of the country because he has to attend to these duties as well, which are absolutely necessary," he said.

Mbeki was attending a National Executive Committee meeting of his ruling African National Congress party on Saturday.

Former president Mandela was accompanied on the Nyanga visit by fellow Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who told the children the best defense against AIDS was just to say "No."

For those who could not say "No," the best alternative was to practice safe sex, he said.

Hundreds of gatherings are being held across South Africa to mark World Aids Day, which will culminate with the "Flame for Life" ceremony, in which Deputy President Jacob Zuma will light a candle in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.
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