Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - July 16, 2006
Julian Rademeyer

Clinton, accompanied by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, visited a small clinic at a government hospital in Lesotho on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Sunday Times amid a crush of well-wishers, Clinton said: "I wouldn't be surprised if Lesotho wasn't the first country with a massive infection rate to turn it around."

He was diplomatic about South Africa, where the fight against the pandemic has been adversely affected by a lack of political leadership on the issue, and denialist opinions on the causal link between HIV and Aids.

"[That] still goes on to some extent," Clinton said. "It is important to note that it is slowing down the ability to do what South Africa, as the wealthiest country in Southern Africa, can do - which is to offer a 100% treatment by building up rural [health] networks . . .

"I just think that if there were no mixed messages we could accelerate care into the rural areas. We just gotta get to all those folks out there and get that medicine out there."

Remarking on their partnership, Gates - who was invited to accompany Clinton to visit the Karabong Clinic at the Mafeteng Government Hospital, 60km south of Maseru - said: "Clinton is doing fantastic work. He's shining a light on the problem and he has put together a smart team. "

Many of the patients at Mafeteng Hospital, which serves 185000 people, are South Africans who cross the Van Rooyen's Gate border near Wepener, in the Free State. Their only alternative is to seek treatment in Bloemfontein, 140km away.

More than 23% of Lesotho's 2.2 million people are infected with HIV or have full-blown Aids. Some 300000 need immediate treatment but at present only 11000 are receiving medication. The country is fighting back with a "Know your Status" campaign to persuade all citizens over the age of 12 to be tested. Even Lesotho's prime minister and archbishop have been publicly tested.

At the clinic, which provides anti-retroviral treatment to more than 1200 patients, Clinton met a girl whose life he had unknowingly saved.

Six-year-old Arriet was born HIV positive. Her mother is dead. Eight months ago the little girl was dying. She became one of the first beneficiaries of paediatric Aids medication donated to the clinic by Clinton.

Country director for the Clinton HIV/Aids Initiative Lesotho, Dr Mphu Ramatlapeng, told Clinton the child's medical card was almost as thick as a bible. "Now she is a regular at school. She tells everybody when she has to take her medication," said Ramatlapeng.

In a blog on his foundation's website, Clinton enthused about meeting the "vivacious little girl".

"She took my hand and started dancing with me in the clinic's hallway. Without her Aids medication, Arriet wouldn't be alive today. Thanks to treatment, she's not just alive - she can dance and play like any other little girl."

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