[af-aids] Re: Information Request: Closing Speeches at Barcelona

["af-aids@healthdev.net" <af-aids@healthdev.net>]

Re: Information Request: Closing Speeches at Barcelona
-Forwarded by Suzi Peel, USA
*****************************

Source: The Kaiser network site 
http://kaisernetwork.org/aids2002/syndication.asp?show=portal.html

Nelson Mandela
Closing Speech at XIV International HIV/AIDS Conference
Barcelona, Spain
July 12th

Since last we came together at the Durban conference in 2000, we are told
that six million more people have died as a result of HIV/AIDS. And,worst
of all, that within the next 20 years, 70 million people will die unless
drastic action is taken. There are many issues that I would like to touch
upon in these few words.

Issues of poverty and the burden of disease in developing countries, and
the impact that this has on the AIDS pandemic. The importance of 
investment in developing countries, to spur the economic growth which will
ensure asustained response to the epidemic. The importance of the
community response to HIV/AIDS, and the rooting out of denial about the
cause and consequences of AIDS.

In prevention of HIV infection in the youth, we have a remarkable
initiativein South Africa called loveLife, which is a bold and ambitious
attempt to reduce HIV infection by promoting sexual health and healthy
future for young people. The extraordinary vulnerability of women to HIV
infection, and the importance of gender issues in the fight against AIDS.
The importance of preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child.
AIDS should not bear disease of children. The importance of finding the
vaccine, and of communities being prepared to participate in large-scale
vaccine trials. The list goes on and on, but we do not have time to
address all of theseimportant subjects. Instead, we have to select a few
issues which wecurrently regard as requiring the most urgent agenda.
Nothing can be moreheart-rending and in need of urgent attention than the
case of AIDS orphans,who so often find themselves rejected and ostracized
by communities.

Personally, nothing can shake me more than the sight of these innocent
young children suffering physically, socially, and emotionally. There are
nearly 14 million children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. It
ispredicted that there will be more than 25 million of them by 2010. This
is a tragedy of enormous consequence. I'm sure you have been told that
AIDS is killing more people than were killed by all the worst warsof
history and natural disasters. AIDS is a war against humanity.

When we talk about it, and the actions we take, we must be influenced by
thefact that this is a war which requires mobilization of the entire
population. These children will grow up without the love and care of their
parents, and most of them will be deprived of their basic rights -shelter,
food, health, and education. Many will be subjected to abuse,exploitation,
discrimination, trafficking, and loss of inheritance. We have an
obligation to provide the proper care and support for these children. No
adult can stand by and watch while these children suffer. As adults, we
have collective and individual responsibility. The stigma and
discrimination inflicted on these childrenare atrocious and inexcusable.

Many people suffering from AIDS are not killed by the disease itself, are
killed by the stigma surrounding everybodywho has HIV/AIDS.

That is why their leaders must do everything in their power to fight and
to win the struggle against this stigma. Likewise, it is inexcusable to
subjectany person infected or affected by HIV/AIDS to such abuse and
rejection. We must, therefore, tackle the stigma and discrimination
associated withHIV/AIDS with even greater urgency. We must show that we
care for all those affected by this terrible disease, and that we are
doing something about it.E loquence on this pandemic is good, but not
sufficient. That is the first part of trying to direct the attention of
the community to this pandemic.But what is more, what you do about it on
the ground. Unless we are able to follow what you say by doing something
practical to deal with thissituation, our eloquence is less than useful.

When I was the President of South Africa, I went round the country
together with the then-Minister of Social Welfare. Every city or rural
area we went to, we told parents "bring the children who are suffering
from terminal disease, like HIV/AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, malaria. We
also want you to bring children who are disabled, either physical or
mental." And the fact the president of the country is seen sitting at
tables withchildren with HIV/AIDS and suffering from terminal diseases,
children whoare disabled, makes the parents less ashamed of their
children. And it's certain.

Parents will say, "if the President of the country and the Minister
ofWelfare can sit at table and enjoy a meal with our children, who suffer
fromterminal diseases, who are disabled, why must we be ashamed of them?
We wantthem to come out and be seen, and to enjoy life like ordinary
individuals. "Every year, I bring together between 1,500 and 2,000
children, and I go right round the country. There is hardly any province
in our country that has not seen this message I bring home. And that is
how we give hope to children who otherwise hardly have no future at all.
It is very important for us, to go to the ground, and to tell the
community how to deal with this pandemic.

I know, for example, a judge who sits in one of our highest courts who has
HIV/AIDS. He came to brief me about his position. His immune system was
almost destroyed. He could not walk, but somehow he came to me, to
fightback and win this battle. He is... [Unintelligible] This is the food
that you must eat. He followed that advice, and his immune system became
stronger. He is now in the highest... [Unintelligible], in the highest
court of the country. If a judge can do so, you also can do so.

But you must not be ashamed of speaking out and telling the community
that" I suffer from HIV/AIDS." In jail, I contracted TB. And, outside
jail, I was found to be a cancer victim. My colleagues did not stigmatize
me. They gaveme all their love and support. There is no reason,
whatsoever, why sufferersshould hide that they have been affected by this
pandemic. Because when youkeep quiet - and this is something, a hundred
times - when you keep quiet,you are signing your own death warrant.

And the best thing to do is to practice. Say "I have this disease. I want
to be (Unintelligible)." We need to remind ourselves why so many of these
children are orphans today: because their parents were not able to get
access to treatment for AIDS, most likely because they could not afford
it.Or because they lived in a country which was too poor to provide their
basic health care. We must know that one of the greatest assaults to human
dignity is poverty, where you wake up not knowing where you're going to
get your next meal. Where you cannot have decent accommodations for
yourself and foryour children. Where you cannot feed them, where you
cannot send them to the school. That is the greatest assault on human
dignity, and that is why

And that is why we should pay particular attention to the poorwho are ill,
whose immune system is not capable of resisting these terminal diseases.We
know - I'm sorry - I ask all leaders in the world: Is this acceptable? We
know that there are treatments available which restore the immune
system,which stop the opportunistic infections, especially TB, and which
returnAIDS sufferers for good health, for several years, at least. Is it
acceptable that these dying parents have no hope of access to treatment?
The simple answer is "no." We must find ways - we must find ways and means
to make life-saving treatment available to all who need it.

Regardless of whether they can pay for it, or where they live, or for any
other reason, why should treatment be denied? If parents with AIDS can be
given a few more years, perhaps several years or even longer, then their
children will be given a much better opportunity for nurturing their
survival and development. Those few years of additional life will be the
most precious for all of those parents and children. For those of us who
are more fortunate than those dying parents, it is a timely reminder of
the sanctity of human life.We should be prepared to give all that we have
got, give those families thatare stricken by AIDS, those extra few years.
Nothing is better for your own well-being than the feeling that "I am
contributing practically towards those who are affected by this pandemic."

In my country, I approach businesses and ask them to send children to
school - high school, university.Generally, I arrange for no less than 300
scholarships per year. That I arrange for a scholarship for a young lady
of 20 to go to university. Her results on the tests (Unintelligible) were
excellent. She attracted a lot of praise from her lecturers. Then,
suddenly, she found that she had AIDS and went to hospital. I was out of
the country. And, because she could not pay the hospital charges, I came
back and I immediately contacted her. And I asked her to come for lunch,
knowing that she's an AIDS sufferer. I was then told, before I could enter
the gate, to meet her at the gate. The house(Unintelligible). But after 15
minutes, I asked, where are these people? Eventually, she came with her
parents. She could hardly walk, and I said just go straight to the table.
And she said, I could hardly hear her talk.And for food, she just took one
spoon. And very sadly, had to go from here straight to hospital. And my
secretary here (Unintelligible), immediately phoned the hospital, and
(Unintelligible). And the doctor in charge phoned me to say that there is
very little that we can do. I was devastated. And within a week, because
they couldn't do anything, they discharged her.(Unintelligible) My wife
and I went to see her. (Unintelligible) Then we arranged for her to have
drugs, to have good food. Then I phoned about two weeks later, and a very
sharp, strong voice replied. I said, "who is speaking?" She gave me the
name - same girl. I said, I can't believe that. She was now strong, and my
secretary, without even consulting me, had got her a new (Unintelligible),
a new (Unintelligible).I have raised more than 800,000 rand for her, and I
send her some money every month so that she can eat properly, she can get
all the drugs that sheneeds. I first send her 500 rand a month, but my
wife almost left me indisgust. And she said, we must give her 2,000 a
month (Unintelligible).

One of the members of my staff took this money to her, and she had taken
the 500 before. She said, I came across a new person, I can't believe that
it's the same girl who was written off by the doctors. She is now
recovered.There is life after HIV/AIDS.

I have three challenges to put to the world today. The first is to
challenge all institutions, public and private, and all their leaders, to
make a starton treatment access today, and to make rapid and real progress
in achievingaccess to AIDS treatment for all those that need it.

Wherever they may be in the world. Regardless of whether they can afford
topay or not. We place such a huge emphasis on treatment, quite
simply,because treatment will provide hope for the future.

The great tragedy of HIV infection is that most people, surely more than
90 percent, do not know that they are infected with the virus. They
continue,unwittingly, to spread the infection. With the hope of treatment,
peoplewill have a reason to go for HIV counseling and testing.

But, it must be on an entirely voluntary and confidential basis.

Business must stop humiliating people and testing them openly whether they
have HIV or not. All that is required is to talk to people, constantly,
tosay, "if you don't go for testing, if you have got AIDS and you don't
know about it, you are signing your own death warrant. The only way in
which youcan be saved is if you go for a test, and then accept what the
doctor saysto you."

I believe that this is the single most important prevention tool that we
have, because it is the one that is most likely to change behavior. My
second challenge today is to all individuals: you need to establish where
you stand in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and you can only do this by being
aware of your HIV status. For those of you who are HIV positive, there is
hope. You can live with HIV, and the rest of the world cares about you.

The sooner you establish your HIV status, the more you can do for
yourself,and the more that can be done for you by others. And if voluntary
counseling and testing is not available free of charge where you live,
then you must demand it. It is your right to know.

My final challenge today is to the leaders of this world. There is no
doubt that strong leadership is the key to an effective response in the
war against AIDS. Leadership starts at the top. When the top person is
committed, the response is much more effective.

This means not only political leaders, but also business leaders, union
leaders, religious leaders, traditional leaders, and the leaders of NGOs.
One has to make special mention of the role played by NGOs and
theleadership in those organizations. These are often small organizations
with meager resources that have made an impact far beyond what would have
been expected from their size. One is often moved to reflect that, if only
the big institutions of government and business had made a similar effort
proportionately, we might very well already have turned the tide of the
AIDS pandemic.

In this regard, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other big
companies have done very well, by making funds available for us to treat
this pandemic. Now, many people are criticizing big business and
governments because they are not doing sufficiently. That is one part of
it, it is true.But the other part, which many people don't talk about, is
our own shortcomings. We have not developed proper strategies to get the
money out of them.

President Clinton will tell you that, that as facilitator in Burundi, I
asked him for money. He gave it to me on the spot.That money got finished.
I went back to the President of the United States,George Bush, and I said,
"I want a million dollars." He gave it to me.
I have gone back to almost every continent and asked for money. For my
organization, in Africa alone, I collected 66 million dollars, and you
know how poor Africa is.In the middle east, I collected 73 million
dollars, and in Asia, 89 million for my organization, the ANC. Now, I was
discussing this morning about the complaints against government, and I was
saying, let us look at the strategy that we're using, because if we
corrected ourselves, we would be able tosucceed more than we do. One of
the most difficult things in life is not just to influence others, it is
to change your own character.

And we are required to do that today in fighting this pandemic. We must
correct our own mistakes. It is good to criticize governments when they
are stingy, but you need much more than criticize. I have criticized
government openly, but I've gone to the same government I've criticized,
and I've said, can you put money in my hand?

People, like brave and courageous men and women, let us not be afraid to
criticize and speak up, but, at the same time, let's not be afraid to go
to the same people that we criticize and say we have this particular
problem, can you give us money? They will respond, subject to what I said
this morning to what I was discussing this morning with some people who
are criticizing governments and big institutions quite correctly.But our
own strategy must be changed. We have great appreciation for the
courageous leadership given by many in all sectors of society, in
different parts of the world. At the same time, I wish to repeat the
appeal and challenge I have so often made, calling on all leaders in the
world today to ask themselves what they have personally done to help
diminish the impact of the AIDS pandemic. And whatever they have done, or
have not done, to commit themselves to doing more from today. As one who
has led almost the entirety of his life in a struggle to build a better
world, often against odds that were thought insurmountable, I want to say
to all of you who are activists in the war against AIDS, you have my
greatest admiration. Keep on fighting,and you will overcome the terrible
scourge of human kind.

In Africa, we have a concept known as (Unintelligible), based on the
recognition that we are only people because of other people. We are all
human, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic affects us all in the end. If we discard
the people who are dying from AIDS, then we can no longer call ourselves
people.

The time to act is now. We can make a difference. I thank you. 



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