Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - Sunday 07 April 2002
Mawande Jubasi
The deputy vice-chancellor for research, Prof Abdool Karim, said the universtiy was ethically obliged to implement an anti-retroviral programme .
But he said the country's war against the disease was being undermined by politicians who said HIV did not cause Aids.
"How can we fight a war when even the country's president does not know who the enemy is? It is like going to war when your commander-in-chief does not even know who you are fighting ," said Karim.
He said the university had a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the crisis, which included providing leadership, a programme of treatment, research, anti-retroviral distribution and a clearly formulated plan to limit the spread of the disease.
"Although we don't have figures for the number of students and staff members living with or dying of Aids, we have no doubt that there are many people in our institution who have contracted the disease."
Through the Students' Representative Council (SRC) and other societies on campus, students were also being asked to join in the fight against Aids.
The university's four libraries were providing condoms and information brochures on HIV/Aids.
SRC president Grant Heslop said the university had a policy to help all students with anti-retroviral drugs, adding that it should be available to all students and staff.
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