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) - June 30, 2002
Bobby Jordan
The 83-year-old statesman is meeting traditional leaders to encourage them to speak to their communities about Aids.
He will also deliver the closing address at next month's international Aids conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Doctors and health officials have welcomed Mandela's intervention, saying key public figures in SA urgently need to become more involved.
Mandela has also added his voice to the national loveLife campaign, encouraging parents to talk to their children about sex and HIV. His Children's Fund is actively involved in efforts to address the national Aids orphan crisis.
In March, Mandela opened a clinic in the Eastern Cape that will dispense nevirapine, the drug that helps mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The move came amid debate within the ANC over whether the drug should be rolled out beyond official test sites. In the same month, Mandela made an unequivocal call for the state to provide antiretrovirals, while acknowledging President Thabo Mbeki's concerns about them.
Mandela's spokesman, Zelda le Grange, said he viewed his role as complementing that of Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who has started his own Aids orphan trust.
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