Justice Edwin Cameron, a South African High Court Judge and renowned AIDS activist left China today after a week-long visit to China.  Justice Cameron was infected with HIV in 1985, and in 1999 became the first senior South African official to state publicly that he was living with HIV.  Since then, he has visited many countries to spread the message that HIV is a medically manageable disease and not a death sentence, and that fighting stigma and discrimination is key to fighting the disease.  

During his visit to China, Justice Cameron met with top-level officials from China's Ministry of Health and Centre for Disease Control and gave talks at two of China's most prestigious universities - Peking University and the China University of Political Science and Law.  He also met with people living with HIV, grassroots activists, and people working in the field of HIV prevention and care.

At the end of his visit, Justice Cameron said that from what he had seen and heard, stigma and discrimination is just as serious in China as in South Africa and that this must be addressed not just through government policies, but also by civil society involvement and grassroots activism.