BLANTYRE, Nov 2 (AFP) - When Malawi's President Bakili Muluzi finally decided to break the silence over the AIDS epidemic sweeping through his country, he did it in style.

He invited prostitutes, villagers, soldiers, HIV victims, schoolchildren and the media to a public meeting in Blantyre last week to announce an ambitious five-year plan to roll back the disease.

Reflecting the years of official neglect as an estimated one million Malawians -- out of a population of 11 million -- became infected with the AIDS virus, Muluzi told the meeting:

"Our biggest achievement today is that we have summoned the courage to speak about this terrible HIV/AIDS pandemic publicly.

"We have broken the deathly silence. Today we have joined the rest of the world in declaring war against the pandemic."

Critics say Muluzi's crusade comes several years too late, but the launch was effective in a conservative society where sexual topics have long been taboo.

The 2,000 people at the meeting were astonished by a young woman who shrugged off traditional constraints and admitted to being HIV-positive.

"I can see faces refusing to believe that I am HIV-positive," said Thereza Kampeni. "The truth is that I am, although I look healthy and have no signs of suffering."

She said she had the right to refuse to disclose how she became infected, but added: "I can leave it up to you to guess."

Kampeni said that through a network of people living with AIDS she was championing the rights of victims and fighting discrimination.

"We have accepted our condition and we don't feel guilty or ashamed," she said, calling for a change in sexual behaviour to stop the spread of the disease.

The Malawi army, where infection rates are high, has joined the new drive against AIDS.

"We are now coming out in the open and admitting we have a problem," Major Mafrumu Gondwe told AFP.

Gondwe, who was manning an exhibition at the meeting of how the army is tackling the AIDS problem, said the European Union and the United Nations were funding efforts to spread the anti-AIDS message among soldiers.

Condoms are now part of a soldier's kit, he said.

Some sexual traditions came under fire at the start of the campaign, with Muluzi saying they should "be abandoned and give way to alternative rites which will reduce the risk of spreading HIV."

One such practice is known as "death cleansing", where a widow is forced to have sex with a brother of her dead husband before his burial, in the belief that this will cleanse his spirit.

Muluzi said the five-year plan aims to spread the dangers of the disease "like a wildfire to every corner of the land".

It also propses to initiate a debate on legalising prostitution.

"We are also targetting commercial sex workers because they need to know their rights as they are grossly mistreated in their trade," Olivia Liwewe of the national AIDS control programme told AFP.

The plan is estimated to cost 30 million dollars, and Muluzi has appealed for support from international donors.

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