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Nelson Mandela broke down in tears as he told the world
that his only surviving son Makgatho, 54, had fallen victim to
the virus | |
We must not hide, says Mandela as he weeps for the son killed by Aids
In Africa, it is the killer disease that many will not discuss
openly. But Nelson Mandela broke down in tears yesterday as he told the
world that his son had died of Aids.
The great statesman
summoned the world's media to the front door of his home in Johannesburg
to announce that his only surviving son, Makgatho, 54, had succumbed to the virus.
His country's elite refuses to acknowledge the enormous death toll
caused by HIV/Aids. But the former South African President, 86 and
increasingly frail, found the strength to admit that his family, like so
many others in South Africa, had lost a loved one to Aids.
"We must not hide the cause of death of our respected families because
that is the only way we can make people understand that HIV is an ordinary
illness. That's why we have called you today to announce that my son has
died of Aids," Mr Mandela said.
"I hope that as time goes on we will realise that it is important for
us to talk openly about Aids, because it is the only way to make it appear
normal, like cancer."
Mr Mandela said that he had argued in
favour of breaking the taboo surrounding the disease for
years, long before he knew that his son was suffering from Aids.
Makgatho, a lawyer, had been receiving treatment for several months.
His wife, Zondi, died of pneumonia, one of the diseases that affect Aids
sufferers, in 2003.
Mr Mandela, who was surrounded by family members yesterday, cancelled
several engagements during the past month to remain close to his ailing
son. He has three daughters, one from his first marriage, and two from his
second marriage to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Mr Mandela lost his first
son, Madiba Thembekile, in a car crash in 1969.
Despite the mounting toll from Aids, and some five million cases - the
highest HIV/Aids caseload in
the world - few public figures have come forward to say that Aids has
affected their families.
Yesterday Aids activists were quick to applaud Mr Mandela's decision to
go public with the cause of his son's death. Grant Law, of the Topsy
Foundation, said that one of the best ways of erasing the stigma attached to the disease was the
involvement of the family. "We applaud Mandela for coming out in this way
and making Aids a family issue," he said.
(BBC) |
“我們不能逃避真實”，曼德拉在愛子死于艾滋病后流著淚說。
在非洲，多數人并不公開討論這種致命的疾病。 然而昨天（1月6日），納爾遜·曼德拉卻流著眼淚告訴全世界他的兒子死于艾滋病。
這位政治偉人將世界各地的媒體召集到他位于約翰內斯堡的家門前，宣布了他唯一還健在的兒子，現年54歲的馬克賈托已死于艾滋病毒的消息。
南非的中堅勢力拒絕宣布因感染HIV病毒而死亡的巨大數字。而這位86歲﹑日漸衰弱的南非前總統卻鼓起勇氣承認他的家庭，正如南非許多家庭一樣，由于艾滋病失去了一位摯愛的親人。
“我們不應該隱藏我們所敬愛的親人的死因真相，因為唯有這樣做，人們才會明白HIV只是一種普通疾病。這也正是今天我為何要向你們宣布我的兒子死于艾滋病。”曼德拉說。
“我希望隨著時間的推移，人們將認識到公開談論艾滋病是一件重要的事情，因為這是唯一一條使它成為像癌癥一樣的正常疾病的途徑。”
曼德拉先生說，早在得知兒子患有艾滋病之前的數年間，他已號召人們打破有關禁忌，公開談論艾滋病。
身為律師的馬克賈托已接受了幾個月的治療。他的妻子祖迪2003年死于肺炎——艾滋病患者易感染的疾病之一。
昨日，為了陪伴病中的兒子，在家人陪伴下的曼得拉取消了過去一個月中定下的幾個預約。他育有3個女兒。一個是與第一任妻子所生，另外兩人是他在第二次婚姻中與溫妮·馬迪克澤拉·曼德拉所生。曼德拉的大兒子馬迪巴·桑貝基勒1969年死于車禍。
盡管南非感染艾滋病的人數不斷增加，并有約500萬艾滋病案例——全球最多的HIV/艾滋病待處理案例，但幾乎沒有哪個公眾人物站出來說艾滋病已經影響到他們的家庭。
昨天，艾滋病運動者們及時響應了曼德拉公開兒子死因的決定。Topsy基金會的格蘭特·勞說，洗除艾滋病惡名的最好辦法就是家庭的參與。“我們為曼德拉以這種方式挺身而出，揭示艾滋病已成為（南非的)家庭問題的事實而喝彩。”
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2005-01-10 09:28