Mandela to get Swedish degree
2005-03-03 08:38
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned governments against using the economic crisis as an excuse to cut funding for fighting Aids.
Stockholm - Former president Nelson Mandela will receive an honorary doctorate in medicine from Sweden's Karolinska Institute for his "unique efforts" to halt the spread of HIV/Aids, said the institution.
Karolinska is a world-renowned institute, which each year awards the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology.
It said Mandela "has helped put medical science and experience-based health care knowledge into practice".
It added that he "has acted forcefully to influence not just his own country, but even world opinion and world leaders concerning what is one of the most-infectious diseases of our time".
"Karolinska Institute and its researchers admire Nelson Mandela for his openness and driving force in showing what needs to be done to stop the epidemic.
"Mandela has shown concern for those affected and has thereby helped to reduce the stigma of the disease."
Spoke out about son's death
Mandela is just one of a few South African leaders who have publicly stated that their families had been affected by Aids.
His only surviving son Makgatho succumbed to Aids at the age of 54 on January 6.
Aids affects more than one in five adults in South Africa, with about 5.3 million people living with HIV/Aids, according to UNAids, the highest caseload in the world.
The Karolinska Institute's distinction will be Mandela's second from Sweden.
In 1999, he received an honorary doctorate in law from Uppsala University.
A ceremony is planned at Stockholm's City Hall on May 13.
- AFP