Senior local and US officials launch HIV testing campaign

US global AIDS coordinator Randall Tobias was publicly tested for HIV on a recent visit to Uganda, to encourage more people to follow suit. The local New Vision newspaper quoted Tobias as saying: "HIV counselling and testing is supposed to be private but we have done it openly, so that the public can understand how simple and straightforward it is; it's important for everyone to be tested." He called at a number of anti-AIDS project sites in and around the capital, Kampala, to assess progress made with the assistance of the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a $15 billion initiative that supports the expansion of prevention, care and treatment programmes in nations hard-hit by the pandemic. During his four-day tour, which concluded on Sunday, Tobias also met with senior government officials, implementing partners and PEPFAR beneficiaries.