By not hiding her HIV-positive status, Princess Kasune — an opposition MP in Zambia — is subverting the stigma of HIV/AIDS in her country, reports BBC News.
In 1997 Kasune tested positive for HIV and defied her husband’s desire to keep her status a secret. For this her church excommunicated her, and her family disagreed with her decision.
“I long to see an HIV-free generation and hopefully a day without stigma,” said Kasune.
Eradicating the stigma of HIV/AIDS — and eventually the illness itself — is Kasune’s mission, and it has taken her across the globe to meet the likes of former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon. However, her crucial desire to create change in Zambia encouraged her to run for her nation’s parliament and become the country’s first openly HIV-positive MP.
Dr. Chitalu Chilufya, Zambia’s health minister, believes that a nation’s leaders can be instrumental in fighting HIV. Kasune believes the same.
“It’s important for parliamentarians in particular to go for HIV tests in public or share their HIV status because leaders set the pace in everything that we do as a country,” said Kasune.
Since her election, Kasune’s old church has apologized for excommunicating her. The stigma seems to be fading.
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