KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda’s president was tested for HIV in public on Friday to encourage millions of untested people to check their status, a critical step to stemming the spread of the virus in the East African country.
Government leaders rarely get tested for HIV in public in Uganda, despite recommendations from health workers that it would set a good example in a country that has seen HIV infection rates increasing.
Uganda was once a global leader in efforts to fight AIDS.
Not all government officials at the Friday event in the capital, Kampala, joined the president in testing.
Ugandan officials have said they want to test 15 million people by the end of 2014. They acknowledge it will be hard to reach that target, the reason they want the president to be a ‘‘role model.’’
‘‘Therefore, all Ugandans, test [for HIV]. Find out your status and let the state and health workers manage you accordingly,’’ said President Yoweri Museveni.
The HIV rate in Uganda stands at 7.3 percent, up from 6.4 percent in 2005, according to a 2011 survey by Uganda’s Ministry of Health.
Ugandan officials who presided over its reduction from 18 percent in 1992 to 6.4 percent in 2005 say they are confounded by the increase.