COPE supports new intensified AIDS campaigns & fully supported treatment for AIDS patients  

1 December 2015

On this World AIDS Day, Congress of the People calls for an intensification of campaigns on AIDS awareness. It is our joint responsibility to transmit knowledge on this illness through all segments of society. It is better to educate than to discriminate. Therefore, a good starting point is to eradicate the negative stigma that surrounds AIDS.

On 1 December 1994, former President Nelson Mandela said, " World AIDS Day brings to the fore the message of tolerance and support. As individuals and as a nation, we need to treat relatives, friends and compatriots who are infected, with compassion. This applies more so to orphans."

President Mandela went further to say, "the campaign against AIDS is the task of all of us, young and old, government and community, organisations, religious and traditional institutions, and cultural and sporting bodies. AIDS knows no customs and it knows no boundaries. We have to work together wherever we are to preserve our nation, our continent and humanity as a whole"

That message in its entirety is as relevant today as it was in in 1994.

COPE wants to assure all compatriots who live with Aids, that we will actively take part in AIDS awareness campaigns and that we will never get tired of educating society on AIDS.

COPE calls upon the government to ensure that treatment remains secure through adequate supply of medicines and appropriate care at every clinic and hospital to minimize further  stress on affected people.

Together we can conquer AIDS.

Issued by Dennis Bloem, COPE spokesperson, 1 December 2015