LUSAKA, March 5 (AFP) - Zambia will not recruit anybody who is HIV positive to its defence forces, a military chief was reported on Tuesday as saying.
Zambia's Defence Force Medical Services director Brigadier General James Simpungwe said military life was extremely active and that it could accelerate the development of HIV into full-grown AIDS, the Post newspaper said.
"This and other reasons have led us to develop a policy of positive discriminations for fresh entrants into the defence force," Simpungwe is quoted as saying by The Post newspaper.
"Only HIV negatives will be recruited," said Simpungwe.
However, the defence forces will not discriminate against soldiers who are already infected with HIV virus, the state-run Times of Zambia report said.
Simpungwe said the army would buy more antiretroviral drugs to prolong the lives of soldiers who are already infected with the AIDS virus, the Times of Zambia said.
More than one in five Zambian adults are infected with the virus that causes AIDS, making the country one of the worst countries in the world to be hit by AIDS.
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