Prince Harry follows his late mum Princess Diana's footsteps to fight AIDS

Prince Harry is pictured at the International AIDS 2016 conference in Durban, South Africa. While there, he spoke alongside Sir Elton John.


The prince urged for people not to become complacent in ending AIDS.

He praised the work of leaders including Nelson Mandela and his own mother,  Princess Diana, for the fight against the disease.


Recall that in 1987, a photograph of Princess Diana shaking the hand of a man with AIDS at Middlesex Hospital, London, helped to break down a major part of the  stigma surrounding the illness.

Princess Diana

 Now, about 30 years later, Prince Harry is highlighting the need to continue fighting the stigma persisting around today's AIDS epidemic, particularly among teenagers.



"When my mother held the hand of a man dying of AIDS in East London hospital, no one would have imagined that just over a quarter of a century later, treatment would exist that could see HIV-positive people live full, healthy loving lives, we now face a new risk, a risk of complacency," he said.


His own charity, Sentebale, founded in partnership with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, has been working to improve and support the lives of children affected by HIV in Lesotho since 2009 and recently began working in Botswana.

"Children living with HIV grapple with severe medical, emotional and social challenges all at once," the prince said, adding "It is all too common for a 12-year-old boy or girl to be forced out to work so they can provide for their brothers and sisters having lost one or two parent to AIDS."

He spoke of his own insights from working in Lesotho and the difference he has witnessed first-hand from helping children feel supported. The prince went on to declare it was now time for everyone to "step up" and address the problems that fuel and result from today's epidemic.


The prince voiced that young people worldwide need to be educated and empowered to take control of their health, and that society needs to change to get rid of the stigma circling the disease today.

His passion to end the AIDS epidemic was praised by Sir Elton John who, in his own speech, said he could not relate to teenagers in the way Harry can and praised him for following his mother's determination to "make the world a better place."


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