South African bishop says Mandela statement helps fight AIDS stigma

Published: 2005-01-19

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela's announcement that his late son had AIDS will help fight the stigma that prevents HIV-positive patients from revealing their status, said a South African bishop. "The symbolic nature of what Mandela has done is enormous," said Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg, who chairs a comprehensive AIDS program in his diocese and is on the management committee of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference AIDS office. "It is a great help to us who are at the coalface (front line), working with communities that are enormously affected by AIDS," he said in a Jan. 16 telephone interview from Rustenburg. "I hope it will contribute to break down the stigma among people who look up to him (Mandela) so much and who fear rejection from their families and friends when they tell them they are HIV-positive," Bishop Dowling said, noting that the 86-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate "is a great icon" in South Africa. "This action reveals the enormous stature and integrity of the man," he said. With 5.3 million HIV-positive citizens, South Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS caseload in the world.

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