Former South African president Nelson Mandela has announced that his foundation will work with the fund honoring the late Princess Diana to help South Africans with HIV disease and their families. "Caring for people who are dying and helping the bereaved was something for which Princess Diana had passion and commitment," Mandela said Saturday at a London press conference. He said the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund would try to improve care and support for those with HIV disease and their families as well as assist children orphaned by the disease.
Mandela praised Diana for using her celebrity to battle the stigma associated with AIDS, saying others should "learn from her example and embrace her legacy. When she stroked the limbs of someone with leprosy or sat on the bed of a man with [AIDS] and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life chances of such people," he said.
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