The AIDS crisis and South Africa.

Publication: The Philadelphia Inquirer (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2000 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Byline: Trudy Rubin

JOHANNESBURG _ One of the keys to stopping the HIV/AIDS pandemic devastating Africa is strong presidential leadership.

The one African country that has turned around its rising rate of infection is Uganda. There, President Yoweri Musaveni, ignoring strong cultural taboos against talking openly about sex, bluntly pressed his country to change risky patterns of sexual behavior. Condom use soared; new infection rates dropped.

Many had hoped for a similar campaign by Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa and the continent's great black hope as leader of its most developed country.

South Africa has an extensive AIDS awareness campaign _ billboards, huge fake rubber condoms hanging off of buildings, free condoms in airports and public toilets _ but all this isn't translating into safer sexual behavior. A fifth of South Africa's adult population is estimated to be HIV-positive, and that figure will rise to a third of the population in 10...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.