JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. President Thebo Mbeki delivered his strongest message yet on AIDS, putting his personal imprimatur on a dramatic shift in his government's approach to the disease.

In an interview published yesterday in Independent Newspapers, South Africa's largest newspaper publishing house, Mr. Mbeki said "you need to inculcate into the minds of people that they, too, have a responsibility for . . . health." He was also quoted as saying "you can't be going around having hugely promiscuous sex all over the place and hope that you won't be affected by something or the other."

The interview marked the president's first personal public shift from his earlier controversial position questioning the link between the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS. Doctors and activists fighting the pandemic have slammed Mr. Mbeki for his views and for policies that blocked wide access to antiretroviral drugs on the grounds that they were costly and toxic.

Last week, Mr. Mbeki chaired a cabinet meeting that resulted in a radical shift of policy on AIDS. While the cabinet stopped short of acknowledging the link between HIV and AIDS as a fact, it said in a statement that it would act on the "premise" that the human immunodeficiency virus caused AIDS.

The cabinet has reversed a ban on the treatment of rape victims in state hospitals with antiretroviral drugs, saying they would be allowed if the patient gave their informed consent. The government also announced plans to offer universal access next year to antiretroviral drugs that can help prevent women from infecting their babies during childbirth.

Aids activists hailed the turnaround as the government's most significant policy shift on the issue yet but urged the government to make up for lost time.

Former President Nelson Mandela, who lent his voice to the criticism of Mr. Mbeki's approach on AIDS, said yesterday that he is relieved the government has changed its policy on AIDS. "These are responsible people who could not allow babies to continue to die." he said.

South Africa is one of the world's most AIDS-ravaged countries. Experts estimate that one in nine South Africans is infected with HIV and say the disease could kill as many as seven million people in South Africa by 2010 if the state continued its controversial treatment and prevention strategies.

There is an economic toll, too, of course, and in a separate development, AngloGold Ltd., one of the world's biggest gold producers, estimated that at its peak the AIDS epidemic will cause its gold production costs to rise by $4 to $6 an ounce. AngloGold has estimated that a quarter or more of its South African work force if HIV-positive.