Church leaders on AIDS awareness road trip

Leaders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church have embarked on a two-week tour of the country's southern provinces to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The campaign is part of an inter-denominational initiative involving Protestant and Islamic religious leaders, launched earlier this year by the National Anti-AIDS Secretariat. According to the South African Press Association (SAPA), the church leaders will be preaching fidelity, speaking out against stigma and discrimination, and encouraging people to care for and support HIV-positive people. The latest government figures estimate that 2.6 million people in Ethiopia are living with the virus and nearly 1.25 million children have lost either one or both of their parents to the disease.