CRI NEWS

Kaunda Discloses HIV Status

2004-6-18 21:06:29 CRIENGLISH.com

Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda has stated that he is HIV negative, becoming the first high profile figure in Africa to disclose his HIV status.

Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda has stated that he is HIV negative, becoming the first high profile figure in Africa to disclose his HIV status.

Kaunda said this while delivering his keynote address at an AIDS conference in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The former president, who also disclosed that he lost his 30 year-old son to AIDS in 1986, encouraged people to go for HIV and AIDS testing, saying this was the first step towards fighting the pandemic that has claimed millions of lives so far.

The 80 year-old Kaunda spoke passionately about the need to fight poverty in Africa in order to reverse the devastating trend of the disease.

He also called for greater unity in the fight against AIDS, saying Africans should fight it in the same way they fought colonialism and apartheid.

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