HIV/Aids stigma remains a challenge - Price

Lighting the way: VC Dr Max Price and student Luke Nkosi light a candle at UCT's annual Candlelight Memorial Concert.

Stigma remains a concern, said vice-chancellor Dr Max Price at UCT's annual Candlelight Memorial Concert, organised by the HIV/AIDS Institutional Co-ordination Unit (HAICU) on 12 May. The event, which featured local band Goodluck, commemorated the lives of colleagues and friends who have died of AIDS, supported those living with the virus, and addressed the stigma still attached to the disease.

"Our main job is to address questions of stigmatisation, and I urge you to go out there and talk about it," Price told students.

He referred to UCT's campaigns for tackling the disease, particularly the discipline-specific HIV/AIDS curriculum course components that have been incorporated into the formal curriculum.

Price noted that although infection rates have levelled out among young people, the university - and the country - cannot be complacent in responding to a disease that has infected over 5.7 million South Africans. The big task, he added, is for individuals to take responsibility, and always to practise safe sex.