News - News - Justice Edwin Cameron Speaks at BSALA Annual Dinner

The BSALA annual dinner on 26 June 2007 at the East India Club in St James’ Square, London, was a highly inspiring event.

The keynote address was delivered by Mr Justice Edwin Cameron, of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa. In a powerfully inspiring speech he spoke candidly about living with HIV since the early 1990s, the initial shame, the stigmatisation of HIV and AIDS, having the courage to publicly speak about contracting the disease, the catastrophic spread of the virus in South Africa and the message of hope about the power to effect change by the people.

Following his public declaration, in 2001, Nelson Mandela broke his own silence and supported all steps to alleviate the dramatic spread of the virus and the availability of medical assistance to those in need. Now some 250,000 people in South Africa receive vital medical help to boost their immune system and slow the onslaught of the effect of AIDS. Sadly some 500,000 more are still in need of assistance and about 1,000 people die daily.

After the publication of his award-winning book, Witness to AIDS, published in 2005, Nelson Mandela hailed Mr Justice Edwin Cameron as: "One of South Africa's new heroes."He has received numerous awards and distinctions, including an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies in London. The University of Stellenbosch conferred on him its Alumnus Award for 2000. The same year he received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights and Transnet’s HIV/AIDS Champions Award.