Jesse Jackson Urges South Africa to Fight HIV/AIDS With Same Vigor Seen in Apartheid Struggle

South Africa needs to fight HIV/AIDS with the same vigor it showed in the fight against apartheid, Rev. Jesse Jackson said during a visit to the country this week, the SAPA/News24.com reports (SAPA/News24.com, 10/25). "Young people dying of AIDS need to capture the anti-apartheid spirit and turn it into the anti-AIDS spirit," Jackson said on Wednesday in Johannesburg at a press conference with former South African President Nelson Mandela. Jackson called for improved medicines and treatment and a "radical shift in behavior and attitude" (Associated Press, 10/26). He also said the country's economic development is contingent upon successfully fighting the disease. "Effort needs to be invested in this area, so there can be economic growth and development to make for a healthy environment," Jackson said (Benjamin, Business Day, 10/25). Jackson had rallied for U.S. companies to withdraw from South Africa during the apartheid era and now says he wants to persuade companies to invest in the country (Associated Press, 10/26).

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