Around 800 African clerics representing more than 150 churches and 39 countries agreed to be tested for HIV during an assembly of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) held recently in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon.
The secretary-general of the AACC, Bishop Mvume Dandala, urged all clerics who tested positive to reveal their status so as to assist in tackling the stigma against HIV/AIDS. He guaranteed they would be supported by other church leaders.
In an interview with the BBC, Dandala said: "I think it is important for people living with HIV/AIDS to come out into the open, and for us all as a church to learn how to handle one another in a responsible way."
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