Cynthia Leshomo of Botswana smiles after being crowned Miss HIV/AIDS Stigma Free 2005 in Gaborone, Botswana.

    

Thirty two-year-old HIV-positive Cynthia Leshomo(R) hugs her doctor after winning the 'Miss HIV Stigma Free' competition in Gaborone, Botswana early February 27, 2005. The competition aims to reduce the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, which has infected roughly a third of the southern African country's population. [Reuters]

    BEIJING, Mar. 1 -- Botswana's new Miss HIV AIDS Stigma Free Cynthia Leshomo said she thought someone as ¡°beautiful and intelligent¡± as her would be immune to the virus but knew better now.

    ¡°Oct. 10th, 2000, was the day my world was turned around when I was told that I am HIV positive,¡± said the 33-year-old, who won the title late Saturday.

    ¡°I went through all sorts of emotions ¡ª denial, anger, resentment, despair. I never thought I ¡ª beautiful and intelligent ¡ª would get the virus. For me the virus was for poor, ignorant and uneducated people.

    ¡°But here I am today. HIV knows no boundaries. I am a living example that being HIV positive is not the end of the world,¡± said Leshomo.

    The AIDS counselor said she would use her one-year reign as beauty queen to encourage others to test for their HIV status and focus on the plight of HIV positive children.

    ¡°They are our children, we infected them. I want to teach them about the importance of adherence to ARV medication and tell them that it is alright and they are not different from those who are HIV negative.¡±

    In 2002, Botswana became the first country in Africa to offer free life-prolonging anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. A little over 21,000 people are now enrolled in the 23 sites of the ¡°Masa¡± ARV program, which means New Dawn in the Setswana language, and nine more clinics are due to open soon.

    Botswana¡¯s fight against AIDS is closely watched as success here could help efforts under way elsewhere in southern Africa, like in Swaziland, now the world¡¯s worst affected country, according to the U.N.¡¯s AIDS agency, and South Africa, which has the largest number of citizens living with the disease.

    AIDS activists say the government is realizing drugs and testing centers do not provide all of the answers. 

(Source: Shenzhen Daily-Agencies)