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Mandela repeats Aids backing
16/08/2002 13:07 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Former president Nelson Mandela has repeated his stance that antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) should be made available in the public sector.
He did this in a statement issued to express his condolences to the family and, specifically, the four children of singer Anneline Malebo, who died in Cape Town on Wednesday night.
Malebo (48) was lead singer of the group Joy, famous for its
1970s hit song Paradise Road. She contracted HIV two years ago.
Malebo only started taking ARVs three weeks ago after refusing
to do so because she believed that money for the medication should be left for her children, reports Cape Argus.
Mandela said on Friday: "We... learnt with great sadness that
Anneline's economic position made her unable to take
antiretrovirals earlier.
"This again emphasises the need for us to make treatment
available in the public sector and in places accessible to those who cannot
afford otherwise."
At the International Aids Conference in
Barcelona, Spain, last month, Mandela said ARV treatment should be extended to the HIV-infected parents of children.
Asked for meeting with Mbeki
"Many children
are orphans today because their parents were not able to get access to treatment for Aids.
"Is it acceptable that these dying parents have no access to
treatment? The simple answer is no. We must find the means to take life-saving treatment to all who need it, regardless of whether they can pay for it, or where they live or whatever reason."
A visit last month to Treatment Action Campaign leader Zackie
Achmat, who refuses to take ARVs until they are available to
everyone, prompted Mandela to ask for a meeting with President
Thabo Mbeki.
At the time, Mandela said he supported the government's stance
that research into ARVs in an African context was necessary to
ensure that, if there was a roll-out, the drugs would be safe.
"But, of course, what worries everybody is the number of people who are dying almost daily," he added.
The government agreed in March to "carefully examine" Mandela's proposal that ARVs be made available in the public sector.
<>At the
time, Mandela said he would like to see ARVs dispensed while the
government's important research into their alleged toxicity was
being conducted.
"A perception has been created that we do not care for dying
babies, dying young people. I want us to remove this perception,"
he said.
However, the African National Congress's national executive
committee subsequently rejected Mandela's views that ARVs like
nevirapine should be made available to all those with Aids and who thought the drugs might do them some good.
Despite this, Mandela has expressed his unequivocal support for Mbeki for a second term in office and as president of the ANC at its national congress to be held in December.
But, he has remained adamant that people with HIV/Aids should
decide for themselves whether they want to take the drugs.
"Let us leave the responsibility to each individual, who may be
suffering from HIV/Aids, and warn them that some of these drugs may be toxic," he said in April.
By not providing drugs in state hospitals, the government was
effectively prejudicing the poor as the rich could always go to
their private doctors or clinics for the drugs.
The poor
could rely only on public hospitals where the drugs could be
provided free, Mandela said.
"I have expressed that opinion because I believe in it and I am
prepared to defend it to the end of my days."
In an earlier radio interview, Mandela said that, despite the
ANC's rejection of his views, he would not retreat from his call for universal access to ARVs.
"That's not a question from which I can retreat. When people are dying - babies, young people - I can never be quiet."
Singer Malebo described as special
On Friday, he said he admired Malebo for her courage to make her HIV-positive status known.
"This must serve as an example to other people who live with
HIV/Aids. It is only through making their status known that we
shall be able to overcome the stigma of HIV/Aids."
Arts and Culture Minister Ben Ngubane also described Malebo as
"special" for revealing her HIV/Aids status.
"This is an indication that she was committed to assisting (the) government in fighting the disease."
Ngubane said Malebo made an immense contribution in promoting
music in South Africa and the international arena in the 1970s and 1980s.
"She became an icon of hope, encouraging and educating the
younger generation to become seasoned musicians."
Mandela said he remembered with great affection a song Malebo
had dedicated to him.
"We mourn the untimely death of this great artistic talent in
our society."
- SAPA
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