DURBAN- “The challenge is to move from rhetoric to action,” said Nelson Mandela at the closing ceremony of the AIDS 2000 conference, as he underlined the importance of safer sex, the use of condoms and interventions to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

The address was given a standing ovation by delegates and prompted conference co-convenor Professor Jerry Coovadia to say afterwards that the former president’s words had “stilled the torment in our hearts”, and was “music to our ears”.

Mandela said there was no time to equivocate. A tragedy of huge proportions was unfolding in Africa and something needed to be done urgently.  

Citing statistics which stated that half South Africa’s young people would die of AIDS, Mandela said the most frightening thing was that “all of these infections and the attendant human suffering, could have been, can be prevented”.  

He said that after nearly 20 years of the epidemic there was knowledge and experience about what worked to help control and prevent the disease.  

“The information in a number of countries has taught that HIV infection can be prevented through investing in information and life skills. promoting abstinence, safe sex and the use of condoms and ensuring the early treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.” He added that these were some of the steps that were needed about which “there can be no dispute”.

Mandela told the audience that it had never been his custom to use words lightly. He said the reason he stressed how “precious” words were, was because “so much unnecessary attention around this conference had been directed towards a dispute that is unintentionally distracting from the real life and death issues we are confronted with as a country, a region, a continent and a world”.

He said if anyone cared to ask the “ordinary people” of the continent and the world – and particularly the poor who carried a disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS – they would wish that “the dispute about the primacy of politics or science be put on the backburner”.

Mandela said it was important to focus on “what we know works”. This included the need to:  

* Break the silence, banish the stigma and discrimination and ensure “total inclusiveness” within the struggle against AIDS;  

* Introduce large scale actions to prevent mother-to-child transmission and to continue the international effort of searching for a vaccine;  

* Work with families and communities to care for children and young people to protect them from violence and abuse and to ensure they grow up in a safe and supportive environment.

Responding to Mandela’s address, Coovadia said on behalf of his scientific community he gave his word that “we will do our part in undertaking the things you ask of us”.

He added that “something amazing and profound and unforgettable had happened this week”. He said there was a new spirit of hope as a result of the conference and new energy to tackle the challenges that lay ahead.

“We managed to create for the world a truly African conference that included the needs of the developing world,” said Coovadia.  

A total of 12 437 people attended the conference, 4 560 of whom were from Africa.