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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With African Anglican Priest Infected With HIV

Aired July 12, 2003 - 14:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SCHAEFFLER: As Liberia fights for peace all of Africa is fighting against HIV/AIDS. It has already caused a humanitarian disaster across the continent. It afflicts, women, children, and men, including men of the cloth. CNN's Leon Harris spoke with an Anglican priest affected with HIV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another day of struggle for Reverend Canon Gideon Byomugisha, a priest at Uganda's Anglican Church. He lost his first wife to AIDS in 1991, a year later, a test reveals he was HIV positive.

REV. CANON GIDEON BYAMUGISHA: When I left the information center and the consultant said you are positive. Actually I remember him saying "man of God, what are you going to do?" For a priest like me to discover I was HIV positive, you know, it was stricken (ph) . I didn't know how my church would react.

HARRIS: How did they react?

BYAMUGISHA: It was a mixed reaction, some people were so appalled that I had HIV, but others were so astounded by the degree of honesty that I had shown by the meeting at the time.

BYAMUGISHA: So the president is there with his wife and I am sitting in there.

HARRIS: Byamugisha was giving a lecture the day he got the results. He had 20 minutes to decide what to tell his colleagues.

That's a pretty important 20 minutes in your life.

BYAMUGISHA: Well, yes, it was -- I was sweating. I don't know how people would react. Either they could react by stoning me, because, you know, we have had stories of people being stoned to death. We've had stories of people who have been killed, people who have been stabbed to death because they are positive. People who have been abandoned in hospitals. Anything could have happened, you know, but I was saying, well it doesn't matter what they will do. What matters is for me to be honest, to these people. If they react badly, too bad for me. And fortunately, every time I shared, people said we will support you, we will love you. And that encouraged me to share more and more.

HARRIS: Byamugisha became the first practicing priest in Africa to declare openly he was HIV-positive. His openness on AIDS was mirrored by the attitude of Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni. Museveni confronted AIDS in 1986 and devoted resources to combat it after seeing his country devastated by the disease. Since then, Ugandan's AIDS infection rate has dropped from 30 percent of the adult population to 6 percent. Meanwhile, Byamugisha was facing up to another aspect of his life, his sexuality.

BYAMUGISHA: Since I had the most (UNITELLIGIBLE) that I was not born to be celibate by getting married in '87, I was not so sure that I could remain abstinent for life, but I also knew if I committed adultery, or killed someone with my virus, I would miss heaven. So I was saying how do I miss life on earth and miss life in heaven. You know, it was something that I did not want to have happen. So I said, in order to stop this from happening, get a woman who is HIV positive, who has lost a husband to AIDS and get married so that you stop this pressure.

HARRIS: Some of his friends were surprised.

BYAMUGISHA: Well they said you are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) moral, why do you want to get married. People did not think that positive people can get married to each other and live a life.

So this is the woman has made my world.

HARRIS: He married Pamela in 1995. The full-blown AIDS wife and HIV-positive husband decided to have a child.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHAFFLER: That's not the end of the story. Next, why the couple decided having that baby was worth the risk, and what the priest would tell President Bush if he had the chance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHAFFLER: Before the break, CNN's Leon Harris introduced us to Canon Gideon Byamugisha, of the Ugandan village Cuempia (ph). It is the first Aglican priest in Africa to acknowledge that he is HIV positive and he is married to a woman who has AIDS. They thought for a long time about whether they could or should bring a child into the world. Here's the rest of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BYAMUGISHA: I wanted to have that child, because of the love of the mother. The mother said, I would not want to die without having a child and you promised me that we would postponing having pregnancy until a time where we can safely have a baby. And the time has come. Do you want to keep your promise, or do you want to go back on your promise? That was a tough decision for me to make.

HARRIS: Today Racondo (ph) is a healthy HIV negative one-year- old. Pamela was treated during labor with a Neverapine, which can block the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Both parents are responding positively to anti retroviral treatment.

If President Bush was sitting in this chair right now and not me, what would you tell him?

BYAMUGISHA: I would say, thank you very much, I would shake his hand and say we are really grateful to have a man who is very caring like you, and I would encourage him to continue doing more and say, where you got your $15 billion, go back and see in the pockets, where you can to also get another 15.

50 years from now, one of the biggest question researchers will be asking themselves will be, how come that a largely preventable, a largely manageable illness, managed to kill millions of people, destroy promising economies, and leave millions of orphans desperate at a time when people knew much and had much. You know, that's a question we are not likely to escape, and that's the question that will inspire the minds of the people in the future. Who were the world leaders at that time? People will want to know. To allow this type of genocide happen?

HARRIS: It's likely the first AIDS cases in Uganda occurred in villages on Lake Victoria and treated at this rural hospital. Locals call the disease "slim" because of the wasting effect. But the legacy today, about 1 million children orphaned by aids. This school was set up by a nonprofit catholic group. The orphans here are too poor to travel from their neighborhood to the free public schools. It's crossed Canon Gyamugisha's mind, his beloved Ricondo (ph) could, one day, join their ranks.

BYAMUGISHA: People are saying, don't you feel that you've put this child at risk of being an orphan? And another way of saying it would be to put myself in the shoes of the child, I mean, you are born and you find at the age of 8 or 10, you have been orphaned, and they tell you the story. Your father was positive, your mother was positive, but there came chance a to have a baby who is not positive, and they took a chance, and you were born. But because there was not enough medicine for them to keep alive they died, and that's why you are an orphan.

So it's the child to see how they can make it better. To blame the parents for having taken the risk of producing the child, or whether to wish the world would have been a better place, a world which is more supportive, more encouraging. The world where people do everything they can to keep their members alive.

HARRIS: Leon Harris, Kuwempe (ph) Uganda.

SCHAFFLER: You can see more of Leon's series tomorrow tonight. CNN presents African journey for a full hour Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. As we continue, some say it's the worst flooding in China in a decade. And a closely watched announcement from the FDA this week, watching your weight and what is on the label. That is next.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 12, 2003 - 14:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SCHAEFFLER: As Liberia fights for peace all of Africa is fighting against HIV/AIDS. It has already caused a humanitarian disaster across the continent. It afflicts, women, children, and men, including men of the cloth. CNN's Leon Harris spoke with an Anglican priest affected with HIV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEON HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another day of struggle for Reverend Canon Gideon Byomugisha, a priest at Uganda's Anglican Church. He lost his first wife to AIDS in 1991, a year later, a test reveals he was HIV positive.

REV. CANON GIDEON BYAMUGISHA: When I left the information center and the consultant said you are positive. Actually I remember him saying "man of God, what are you going to do?" For a priest like me to discover I was HIV positive, you know, it was stricken (ph) . I didn't know how my church would react.

HARRIS: How did they react?

BYAMUGISHA: It was a mixed reaction, some people were so appalled that I had HIV, but others were so astounded by the degree of honesty that I had shown by the meeting at the time.

BYAMUGISHA: So the president is there with his wife and I am sitting in there.

HARRIS: Byamugisha was giving a lecture the day he got the results. He had 20 minutes to decide what to tell his colleagues.

That's a pretty important 20 minutes in your life.

BYAMUGISHA: Well, yes, it was -- I was sweating. I don't know how people would react. Either they could react by stoning me, because, you know, we have had stories of people being stoned to death. We've had stories of people who have been killed, people who have been stabbed to death because they are positive. People who have been abandoned in hospitals. Anything could have happened, you know, but I was saying, well it doesn't matter what they will do. What matters is for me to be honest, to these people. If they react badly, too bad for me. And fortunately, every time I shared, people said we will support you, we will love you. And that encouraged me to share more and more.

HARRIS: Byamugisha became the first practicing priest in Africa to declare openly he was HIV-positive. His openness on AIDS was mirrored by the attitude of Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni. Museveni confronted AIDS in 1986 and devoted resources to combat it after seeing his country devastated by the disease. Since then, Ugandan's AIDS infection rate has dropped from 30 percent of the adult population to 6 percent. Meanwhile, Byamugisha was facing up to another aspect of his life, his sexuality.

BYAMUGISHA: Since I had the most (UNITELLIGIBLE) that I was not born to be celibate by getting married in '87, I was not so sure that I could remain abstinent for life, but I also knew if I committed adultery, or killed someone with my virus, I would miss heaven. So I was saying how do I miss life on earth and miss life in heaven. You know, it was something that I did not want to have happen. So I said, in order to stop this from happening, get a woman who is HIV positive, who has lost a husband to AIDS and get married so that you stop this pressure.

HARRIS: Some of his friends were surprised.

BYAMUGISHA: Well they said you are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) moral, why do you want to get married. People did not think that positive people can get married to each other and live a life.

So this is the woman has made my world.

HARRIS: He married Pamela in 1995. The full-blown AIDS wife and HIV-positive husband decided to have a child.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHAFFLER: That's not the end of the story. Next, why the couple decided having that baby was worth the risk, and what the priest would tell President Bush if he had the chance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHAFFLER: Before the break, CNN's Leon Harris introduced us to Canon Gideon Byamugisha, of the Ugandan village Cuempia (ph). It is the first Aglican priest in Africa to acknowledge that he is HIV positive and he is married to a woman who has AIDS. They thought for a long time about whether they could or should bring a child into the world. Here's the rest of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BYAMUGISHA: I wanted to have that child, because of the love of the mother. The mother said, I would not want to die without having a child and you promised me that we would postponing having pregnancy until a time where we can safely have a baby. And the time has come. Do you want to keep your promise, or do you want to go back on your promise? That was a tough decision for me to make.

HARRIS: Today Racondo (ph) is a healthy HIV negative one-year- old. Pamela was treated during labor with a Neverapine, which can block the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Both parents are responding positively to anti retroviral treatment.

If President Bush was sitting in this chair right now and not me, what would you tell him?

BYAMUGISHA: I would say, thank you very much, I would shake his hand and say we are really grateful to have a man who is very caring like you, and I would encourage him to continue doing more and say, where you got your $15 billion, go back and see in the pockets, where you can to also get another 15.

50 years from now, one of the biggest question researchers will be asking themselves will be, how come that a largely preventable, a largely manageable illness, managed to kill millions of people, destroy promising economies, and leave millions of orphans desperate at a time when people knew much and had much. You know, that's a question we are not likely to escape, and that's the question that will inspire the minds of the people in the future. Who were the world leaders at that time? People will want to know. To allow this type of genocide happen?

HARRIS: It's likely the first AIDS cases in Uganda occurred in villages on Lake Victoria and treated at this rural hospital. Locals call the disease "slim" because of the wasting effect. But the legacy today, about 1 million children orphaned by aids. This school was set up by a nonprofit catholic group. The orphans here are too poor to travel from their neighborhood to the free public schools. It's crossed Canon Gyamugisha's mind, his beloved Ricondo (ph) could, one day, join their ranks.

BYAMUGISHA: People are saying, don't you feel that you've put this child at risk of being an orphan? And another way of saying it would be to put myself in the shoes of the child, I mean, you are born and you find at the age of 8 or 10, you have been orphaned, and they tell you the story. Your father was positive, your mother was positive, but there came chance a to have a baby who is not positive, and they took a chance, and you were born. But because there was not enough medicine for them to keep alive they died, and that's why you are an orphan.

So it's the child to see how they can make it better. To blame the parents for having taken the risk of producing the child, or whether to wish the world would have been a better place, a world which is more supportive, more encouraging. The world where people do everything they can to keep their members alive.

HARRIS: Leon Harris, Kuwempe (ph) Uganda.

SCHAFFLER: You can see more of Leon's series tomorrow tonight. CNN presents African journey for a full hour Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. As we continue, some say it's the worst flooding in China in a decade. And a closely watched announcement from the FDA this week, watching your weight and what is on the label. That is next.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com