iClinic - July 14, 2000
Mandela's closing address to the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban on Friday contrasted sharply with Sunday's opening address by President Thabo Mbeki, who is held responsible by many for putting the "unnecessary debate" so high on the AIDS agenda.
"So much unnecessary attention around this conference had been directed towards a dispute that is unintentionally distracting from the real life-and-death issues we are confronted with as a country, a region, a continent and a world", Mandela told the delegates.
Mandela allowed that Mbeki was "a man of great intellect who takes scientific thinking very seriously", while on the other hand the scientific community was committed to "freedom of inquiry, unencumbered by undue political interference".
"Now, however, the ordinary people of the continent and the world . . . would, if anybody cared to ask their opinions, wish that the dispute about the primacy of politics or science be put on the backburner and that we proceed to address the needs and concerns of those suffering and dying." The majority of the 34.3 million people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. Many scientists and health workers have accused Mbeki of dithering while people die of a disease that threatens the continent's economy.
"Let us not equivocate, a tragedy of unprecedented proportions is unfolding in Africa," Mandela said to loud applause from delegates. "AIDS today in Africa is claiming more lives than the sum total of all wars, famines and floods, and the ravages of such deadly diseases as malaria." In the face of this threat, Mandela said, "we have to rise above our differences and combine our efforts to save our people.
"The challenge is to move from rhetoric to action, and action at an unprecedented intensity and scale. There is a need for us to focus on what we know works.
"And with nearly two decades of dealing with the epidemic, we now do have some experience of what works."
With particular reference to the experiences of Uganda, Senegal and Thailand, Mandela went on to detail a number of effective courses of action - all of which take for granted the causal link between HIV and AIDS which the "dissidents" dispute.
"The experience in a number of countries has taught that HIV infection can be prevented through investing in information and life skills development for young people", Mandela said.
"Promoting abstinence, safe sex and the use of condoms and ensuring the early treatment of sexually transmitted diseases are some of the steps needed and about which there can be no dispute.
"Ensuring that people, especially the young, have access to voluntary and confidential HIV counselling and testing services, and introducing measures to reduce mother-to-child transmission, have been proven to be essential in the fight against AIDS.
"Stigma and discrimination can be stopped; new infections can be prevented; and the capacity of families and communities to care for people living with HIV and AIDS can be enhanced.
"The experiences of Uganda, Senegal and Thailand have shown that serious investments in and mobilisation around these actions make a real difference."
Mbeki, Mandela said, would be the first to concede that much more remains to be done. "I do not doubt for one moment that he will proceed to tackle this task with the resolve and dedication he is known for."
"This is not an academic conference", Mandela said. "This is . . . a gathering of human beings concerned about turning around one of the greatest threats humankind has faced, and certainly the greatest after the end of the great wars of the previous century."
Mandela's message to people living with HIV and AIDS was: "The important thing is that you're around. Don't think you will have to leave your family, people or country with a sense of shame."
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