In rare move, Uganda leader publicly tests for HIV

Uganda's president tested for HIV in public today to encourage millions of untested people to check their status, a critical step to stemming the spread of the virus in the East African country.
Public leaders rarely test for HIV in public in Uganda, despite recommendations from health workers that it would set a good example in a country that has seen HIV infection rates increasing. Uganda was once a global leader in efforts to fight AIDS.
Not all government officials at the todays event in the capital, Kampala, joined the president in testing.
Ugandan officials have said they want to test 15 million people by the end of 2014. They acknowledge it will be hard to reach that target, the reason they want the president to be a "role model."

"Therefore, all Ugandans, test (for HIV). Find out your status and let the state and health workers manage you accordingly," said President Yoweri Museveni.
The HIV rate in Uganda stands at 7.3 per cent, up from 6.4 per cent in 2005, according to a 2011 survey by Uganda's Ministry of Health. Ugandan officials who presided over its reduction from 18 per cent in 1992 to 6.4 per cent in 2005 say they are confounded by the increase.
Ugandans health officials say more married couples are getting infected, in part because of what campaigners have dubbed a "sexual network" in which married Ugandans maintain secret lovers. One billboard in Kampala urges couples to "put your love to the test" by testing for HIV.

Museveni and his wife are "leading by example in a bid to roll back the HIV epidemic in Uganda," the Uganda AIDS Commission, the local body tasked with fighting AIDS, said, though the first lady did not attend the event where Museveni was tested.