1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. Zimbabwe

President personally affected by HIV/AIDS

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has revealed for the first time that members of his extended family were living with HIV/AIDS, the BBC reported. Mugabe has become the latest African leader to break the wall of silence surrounding the disease by admitting that HIV/AIDS had affected him personally. He told the country's first conference on HIV/AIDS earlier this week that "the extended family of ... the president himself" were among those living with the HI virus. Mugabe said the pandemic was "one of the greatest challenges" facing Zimbabwe, but added that it was not insurmountable.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join