Swaziland King Pushes AIDS Testing

Swaziland's ruler, King Mswati III, has urged all the subjects of his AIDS-ravaged southern African kingdom to take an HIV test. "I expect all Swazis to take a blood test, to know our own HIV status so that we can take the necessary steps to protect ourselves and to live in a responsible and healthy manner," the 34-year-old monarch said in the foreword to a book about Swazis living with HIV/AIDS that was launched May 10. The British- educated Mswati, who has eight wives and two fiancées, has long been a vocal campaigner against the scourge but this is the first time he has urged all of his subjects to take an HIV test. Palace sources say Mswati is tested every six months; Mswati did not say who would pay to have the many impoverished subjects tested. Between 20 and 25 percent of Swaziland's roughly one million people are infected with HIV.

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