Wanted - HIV-positive celebs to speak out

Too few public figures in Zimbabwe are coming forward to be tested for HIV, so widespread stigma and discrimination are driving the epidemic underground, says a leading HIV/AIDS activist.

Tendayi Westerhof, executive director of Public Personalities against AIDS (PPAAT), said prominent people were doing a "disservice" to the fight against the epidemic by failing to disclose their HIV status. PPAAT is a nongovernmental organisation formed three years ago to fight stigma in Zimbabwe by using high-profile personalities and role models.

Westerhof, a model and businesswomen, revealed her HIV-positive status in 2003.

She said public figures were extremely influential and could change the way society treated people living with the disease. "Such revelations would show that the disease is not only for the poor, and that there is life after being diagnosed HIV positive."

According to Westerhof, "If public figures like prominent politicians, footballers, renowned lawyers and businesspeople come forward, get tested and reveal their status, it would help remove discrimination and stigma surrounding the disease.

But this not happening - they are letting us down."

She is also the author of 'Unlucky in Love', a book about practical strategies for coping with the challenges women living with HIV/AIDS face in southern Africa.

In May 2004, PPAAT organised a campaign in which 12 members of parliament (MPs) went for counselling and testing. Although all the MPs had pledged to make their results known, very few publicised them.

"I know a lot of influential figures who are HIV positive - they secretly come to me for counselling but they don't want to go public," said Westerhof.

Revealing one's HIV status is still taboo in Zimbabwe, where about one in every four adults is believed to be HIV-positive.

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