Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - November 30, 2005
Philip Spooner
The Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha of Uganda said Tuesday that he hopes to encourage people to get tested for HIV and to seek treatment if they carry the virus.
"I thought that talking about my own story and experience might change people's attitudes because people think that AIDS is a disease for prostitutes," said Byamugisha, visiting five Caribbean nations with another HIV-positive priest, the Rev. MacDonald Sembereka of Malawi.
They were to give a lecture Tuesday evening sponsored by the HIV-AIDS Commission as part of events surrounding World AIDS Day on Thursday. They planned to visit Trinidad, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
"We have a double role to help those who are [HIV] negative to remain negative and those who are positive to live positively so they can break the transmission chain and live longer and productive lives for their families and for their nations," Sembereka said.
Byamugisha found out he was infected after his first wife died of AIDS in 1991. Bishops pressured him to keep his infection a secret, but he disclosed it. He and Sembereka said they don't know how they contracted the illness, but feel obligated to educate people about risks of unprotected sex.
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean have the highest rates of HIV infection, according to the United Nations.
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