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The 21st International Aids Conference was a celeb magnet, with British pop star Elton John and even Britain’s Prince Harry turning up to throw their weight behind the cause.
But arguably the most effective among them was actress Charlize Theron, who proved her mettle as a source of wisdom and a passionate force for change.
Every time she opened her mouth this week, people sat up and listened. Watching her move from one session to another with fans and admirers trying to ambush her for selfies, or to applaud her, the power she wielded was clear. But what was plainly evident was that she was a woman fed up with seeing millions of people killed by a preventable disease.
Hours before the official opening at which she pleaded with scientists to help end the epidemic, she hit policymakers hard, accusing them of neglecting young people in the fight against HIV.
“We have really neglected our adolescents, especially young girls,” she said.
“They are the forgotten ones. Until we reach these young people, and effectively engage to empower them, nothing is going to change in this epidemic.
“HIV/Aids is the number one killer in adolescents. Why are we not caring about that?” she asked her co-panellists, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and UNAids executive director Michel Sidibé.
“Young people are dying at a rate that should frighten us, yet somehow we do not talk about them at all.”
Later, in a rousing speech, Theron said: “I think it’s time we acknowledge that something is terribly wrong.
“We have every tool we need to prevent the spread of HIV. Condoms, PrEP [pre-exposure prophylaxis, anti-HIV medication that keeps HIV-negative people from becoming infected] and antiretroviral therapy, yet 2.1 million people, 150 000 of them children, were infected with HIV last year.
“Why haven’t we beaten this epidemic? Could it be that we don’t want to? The real reason we haven’t beaten the epidemic boils down to one simple fact: we value some lives more than others.
“We value men more than women, straight love more than gay love, white skin more than black skin, the rich more than the poor, adults more than adolescents. I know this because Aids does not discriminate on its own.
“We single out the oppressed and abused. We ignore them, let them suffer and then we let them die.”
Theron, the UN’s messenger for peace, has long been involved in the fight against HIV and Aids. In 2007, she founded the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which assists other groups through direct grants, networking and by shining a spotlight on their work.
In a session with Graça Machel, Theron spoke about rape culture, which has been normalised and often shames victims into silence. What shocked her, she said, was that some women in South Africa didn’t know the difference between normal sex and rape.
“This shows that women are not empowered. Even those who are empowered are shamed into silence,” she said.
Theron urged policymakers, leaders and scientists to speak to young people who “have always been drivers of social change”.
“And this generation holds unique promise. This is the generation that is shattering taboos and redefining old notions of gender, sexuality and racial justice.”
