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Aids battle 'same as apartheid'
12/11/2007 19:15 - (SA)
Pretoria - The battle against HIV/Aids should be fought in the same way as those against colonialism and apartheid, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Monday.
Speaking at the opening of a three day International Department of Defence HIV and Aids Conference in Pretoria, Mlambo-Ngcuka said Africa could not afford to lose the battle against the pandemic.
"As Africans we faced many adversaries, we faced colonialism, we fought apartheid together and many other enemies that threatened the continent; it's important that we take the same attitude in this case," she said.
Speaking to the soldiers attending the conference, she said the pandemic could only be overcome if everyone took personal responsibility.
"There is an issue of the inner moral resolve and the inner strength, that remains important for people to make the right choices," she said.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said while care for those already living with HIV and Aids was important, prevention was still the best tool to fight the disease.
She said the defence force must strive to become Aids free.
"If we were to achieve this in the forces, the battle psychologically and otherwise would be won in broader society," she said.
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HIV/Aids Special Report
