World Aids Day

Princess with a vision in Australia for World AIDS Day

Princess Kasune Zulu from Zambia is in Australia for the first time to help World Vision commemorate World AIDS Day. A twenty-six year old HIV positive mother of two, Princess could have become just another of the world's 40 million strong HIV positive population. But Princess is different. She has a vision to save the people of Africa. Her priority: the 13 million African children who have lost their parents to this killer disease.

From the dusty villages of Zambia, Princess has gone on to host her own radio programme Living Positively and in the last year has presented at major international forums including the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona and the World Vision New York AIDS forum. But Princess' actions speak louder than her words. In 1997, she and husband Moffat gave up their home to set up the Fountain of Life school, a home and a school for AIDS orphans. This was the start of an amazing life dedicated to fighting the AIDS epidemic that is crippling much of Africa. Her own children fetch water from the well for orphans and students.

Princess Kasune Zulu is one of the truly inspirational women of our times.


Princess Kasune Zulu

Age: 26

Birthplace: Zambia

Husband: Moffat David T Zulu

Children: Faith (6) and Joy (7) - both HIV negative
Speaks fluent English

In a country where AIDS is rarely discussed, the lone courageous voice of Princess Kasune also broadcasts a regular radio programme, Living Positively, to educate the people of Zambia about HIV/AIDS.

What makes Princess truly extraordinary, is the fact that she herself is HIV Positive. Princess has courageously has used her HIV status to bring a human face to the global AIDS epidemic.

Princess' parents both died of HIV/AIDS, forcing Princess to leave school in Year 11 to care for her brothers and sisters and ageing grandparents.

In the past year Princess has delivered addresses at conferences around the world, including the XIV AIDS Conference in Barcelona and the World Vision New York AIDS forum.

Princess has been recognised by the US Embassy in Africa for her work and currently chairs the board of the African Extended Family System Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children that she co-founded in March last year

Princess is in Australia for World AIDS Day.

Fact Sheet - World Vision World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day is Sunday 1st December

The theme for 2002 is Stigma and Discrimination

World Vision's World AIDS Day event was held on Monday 25th November at Melbourne's Federation Square

Princess Kasune Zulu delivered the keynote address at this function

Princess will launch World Vision's appeal to raise funds for a centre in Zambia that will support AIDS orphans, by providing education and counselling

At this event World Vision will launch two new publications relating to HIV/AIDS:
- Home-Based Care and Support for People Living with AIDS
- Learning from the Past, Hope for the Future- a study on World Vision Australia's program responses to HIV/AIDS

Other presentations on the day were delivered by Dr Sekai Shand of World Vision and World Vision CEO, Mr Lynn Arnold

HIV/AIDS Facts

Approximately 1000 people have died of the Ebola virus,

HIV AIDS claims 7000 lives a DAY.

(DFID developments, First Quarter 2002 p5)

The HIV epidemic now ranks as the most devastating humanity has ever faced.

Globally, more than 60 million people have been infected.

Twenty million have died.

here are 14 million AIDS orphans who have lost one or both parents in the world

Less than 4% of those in need in the developing world have access to antiretroviral treatment

HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa and the fourth biggest global killer.

AIDS has wiped out fifty years of progress. Life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is now 47 years, when it would have been 62 years without AIDS.

HIV/AIDS will kill more people this decade than all the wars and disasters in the past 50 years.

In 2001, AIDS killed 3 million people, 580,000 were children

In 2001, 5 million people became infected with HIV, 800,000 are children

In 2001, 40 million people were living with HIV AIDS, 2.7 million are children

68 million people will die because of AIDS in the 45 most affected countries between 2000 and 2020, more than five times the 13 million deaths of the previous two decades of the epidemic in those countries.

In some southern African countries up to one-half of new mothers could die of AIDS.

Stigma & Discrimination

Stigma and discrimination are the major obstacles to effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

Fear of discrimination may prevent people from seeking treatment for AIDS or from acknowledging their HIV status publicly.

People with, or suspected of having, HIV may be turned away from health care services, denied housing and employment, shunned by their friends and colleagues, turned down for insurance coverage or refused entry into foreign countries.

In some cases, they may be evicted from home by their families, divorced by their spouses, and suffer physical violence or even murder.

Good News

Zambia may become the second African country (after Uganda) to reverse a widespread epidemic. HIV prevalence is falling among young women there-from 28% in 1996 to 24% in 1999 in cities, and from 16% to 12% in rural areas-and both men and women in Zambia's cities report safer sexual behaviour.

HIV prevalence continues to drop in Uganda, Africa's greatest success story in the fight against AIDS. At the end of 2001, adult HIV prevalence had fallen to 5%, down from 8.3% in 1999.

By mounting a strong national response, the Polish Government has successfully curtailed the epidemic among injecting drug users and prevented it from gaining a foothold in the wider population.