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\u201cIt\u2019s in your<\/em> hands.\u201d The urgent appeal once voiced by Nelson Mandela was echoed at the opening of ICASA in Cape Town on 7 December.<\/p>\n Presenters at the ICASA opening ceremony poured affectionate accolades on the iconic and much-loved South African leader, who died on 5 December, and remembered his tireless efforts to fight AIDS.<\/p>\n Urging conference attendees not to give up on the struggle, renowned singer and veteran AIDS activist Annie Lennox said Mandela\u2019s legacy was not \u201ca static piece of history\u201d and should never be relegated to such.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018It\u2019s in your hands,\u2019 Mandela said years ago before he retired from public life. It\u2019s easy to stand on the shoulders of giants but what have I done to make a difference?\u201d asked Lennox.<\/p>\n Another quote of Mandela\u2019s was echoed: \u201cAIDS is no longer just a disease. It is a human rights issue.\u201d Recalling Mandela\u2019s famous words, the co-chair of ICASA, Prof. Ian Sanne, warned that much more work remained to be done. He said: \u201cWe need to pay attention that gains made to date are not lost because of declining funding.\u201d<\/p>\n The conference\u2019s official opening was attractive and appealing and the memory of Mandela\u2019s words made it more special. Ultimately, however, nothing really new was said. One of the AJAN representatives at ICASA, Time Baluwa from Zimbabwe, said: \u201cSo far it\u2019s just more of the same: statistics, appeals for funding and encouraging people to continue the struggle. All this we are used to, we want something new and this is lacking. I wonder if it will be there in the coming days, some more profoundness and depth we can look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n In the usual conference tradition, the presenters highlighted the lights and shadows of the AIDS struggle. Host country South Africa was cited as a success story, with a rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV that has plunged to below 3.5% and 2.4 million people on ART, a treatment initiative that is funded 80% by the country itself. South Africa has 5.6 million people living with HIV, more than anywhere else in the world.<\/p>\n The president of the AIDS Society in Africa, also ICASA co-chair, Prof. Robert Soudre, praised South Africa for being an \u201cexcellent example\u201d of the Abuja Declaration \u2013 in which African governments pledged to devote 15% of their budgets to healthcare \u2013 and expressed the hope that other governments will follow its example.<\/p>\n At the same time, the presenters drew attention to the considerable challenges still standing in the way of achieving a sustained response to AIDS that guarantees universal access to care and treatment for all who need, regardless of who they are. There were calls to focus on marginalised communities, to openness and inclusiveness for universal access.<\/p>\n The most updated statistics were presented. While an impressive 9.7 million people in low- and middle-income countries were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the end of 2012, an increase of 1.6 million over 2011, this statistic represented only 61% of all those eligible for this treatment as per the WHO 2010 guidelines (this percentage drops to 34% if we consider the WHO 2013 guidelines).<\/p>\n Another pervasive problem to be highlighted was violence against women. There were strong calls to stop such violence, with reference to rape, traditions like early marriage and myths such as sleeping with a virgin to be cured from AIDS. With 1000 women newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa every day, it is small wonder that one presenter said: \u201cHIV\/AIDS still wears the face of a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n Discussing the opening speeches later, the AJAN group agreed wholeheartedly with the need to protect women and promote their equality and rights. However, they voiced concern about focusing too exclusively on women to the detriment of men and the relationship between the two.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we say \u2018focus on women\u2019, where are the men? It has to be mutual,\u201d said Time. \u201cI felt the speeches to be polarised towards women. We\u2019re not saying don\u2019t focus on women but give the same attention to men as you do to women.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Yamuremye SJ from Burundi went one step further: \u201cTarget the family. Can you achieve family planning \u2013 whatever method you use \u2013 without involving the man? Whatever you have to say, tell it to the family. Whatever you want to achieve, target the family.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIt\u2019s in your hands.\u201d The urgent appeal once voiced by Nelson Mandela was echoed at the opening of ICASA in Cape Town on 7 December. Presenters at the ICASA opening ceremony poured affectionate accolades on the iconic and much-loved South African leader, who died on 5 December, and remembered his<\/p>\n