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Saturday, Mar 12, 2005

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Fight AIDS stigma: Kaunda

By Our Staff Correspondent

MUMBAI, MARCH 11. The first and former President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, has said there is lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS and emphasised the need to take drastic steps to arrest its rampant spread. At a function in Mumbai, Dr. Kaunda, Chairman of the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation, shared with the audience how he lost his younger son to HIV/AIDS in 1986.

Dr. Kaunda is among the first public figures to acknowledge the impact of HIV/AIDS on his personal life — former South African president Nelson Mandela recently admitted that his eldest son died of AIDS — and argues that it could affect anyone irrespective of class or economic status. ``HIV/AIDS knows no boundaries. What we need to fight, among other things, is the stigma attached to the disease," he said.

``Until the availability of cheaper drugs (anti-retrovirals) in Africa till a few years ago, AIDS was a death sentence with social ostracism and isolation of the patient,'' said Dr. Kaunda. The focus of the programme of his foundation is to "keep mothers alive." ``We are targeting mothers and preventing orphans because that leads to a whole range of problems for the surviving children.'' Waza Kaunda, Director of Programmes of the Children of Africa Foundation and Dr. Kenneth Kaunda's son, acknowledged India's contribution and said that the foundation was sourcing almost all its supply of ARVs from Indian manufacturers. "Thankfully, international aid for HIV/AIDS programmes has been going up. From $ 300 millions in 2000, it is likely to be $ 12 billion this year and $ 20 billion by 2007," he said.

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