Her Majesty The Queen has made her first ever visit to a specialist Aids centre, touring a clinic and officially opening a newly-expanded children's hospital set up by UK-based Christian charity Mildmay, in Kampala, Uganda.
In a public show of support, the Queen warmly greeted a HIV positive couple, Stephen and Grace Wakodo, who were present with two of their eight children. The Queen stretched out her arm to shake hands with the father, whose condition has been managed at The Mildmay Centre since 2002.
The Queen learnt that only one of their offspring is HIV positive, thanks to successful work around preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission.
She expressed her appreciation for how Mildmay’s interventions are helping to reduce the numbers of infected children and described Mildmay's work as "impressive".
The centre’s expertise in rehabilitating people with complex, distressing and ongoing problems related to HIV has meant that many adults have been able to go back to work and children go back to school.
After touring The Mildmay Centre clinic buildings - opened by the Princess Royal in 1998 - the Queen then proceeded to the Mildmay Paediatric Care Centre where she unveiled a plaque for the hospital's new Elizabeth Ward, named in her honour.
