Prince Harry and superstar Rihanna have taken HIV tests together in Barbados to raise awareness about the illness on World Aids Day.
The pair, who appeared on stage together on Wednesday night at Barbados’ 50th anniversary of independence celebrations, had the finger print procedure during a visit to a HIV drop-in centre targeting Bajan men in the capital Bridgetown.
Harry had a public HIV test during the summer in London and admitted to being nervous before the result came back negative.
The prince has been campaigning for a number of months to encourage more people to come forward and be tested for the illness, which can now be managed with drugs.
During a visit to a Barbados hospital on Wednesday, Harry, who is touring the Caribbean, met paediatric consultant and HIV expert Dr Amok Kumar, and told him: “I want to say to everyone who hadn’t been tested – get tested, regardless of who you are, your background, culture or religion.”
Referring to the success of anti-retroviral medicine in helping patients, he said: “Because of the success of these drugs, which is great, we are now suffering from complacency and risk going back 10 or 20 years.”
The Barbados National HIV/Aids programme has highlighted men as being at significantly high risk – they are more likely to be diagnosed late with HIV compared to women and are also more likely to die from Aids-related illnesses.
To raise awareness, the National HIV/Aids Commission in Barbados is trying to remove the stigma associated with the illness and encourage men to get tested and talk more openly about the disease.
Over the last four years, a successful drop-in market-stall event has been run on World Aids Day, ultimately encouraging men to stop and have a relaxed conversation about any issues.
