South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has revealed that he is HIV-negative.

南非总统雅各布·祖玛透漏其HIV病毒测试呈阴性。

Launching a government programme of counselling（辅导，建议） and testing, he said he had decided¹ to reveal（揭露，透露） his status so as to promote openness about Aids.

Mr Zuma has been open in the past about being tested for Aids, but has never before revealed the results.

Mr Zuma, who has three wives, was criticised for promiscuity²（混乱，滥交） after it was revealed he had sired（做……的父亲） a child out of wedlock³（婚外） .

"After careful consideration, I have decided to share my test results with the South Africans," said Mr Zuma, 68.

"My April results, like the three previous ones, registered a negative outcome for the HIV virus."

Shower after sex

By publicising the results of his test, Mr Zuma said, he hoped to "promote openness, and to eradicate⁴（根除，消灭） the silence and stigma⁵（污名，耻辱） that accompanies this epidemic⁶.

"We have to work harder together to fight the perceptions（认知，理解） and the stigma," he told a crowd at a hospital near Johannesburg.

"We have to make all South Africans understand that people living with HIV have not committed any crimes."

Mr Zuma's sex life has been the focus of intense scrutiny⁷（监视，详细审查） in South Africa, says BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding.

In a 2006 rape⁸ trial, he conceded（承认，退让） having had unprotected sex with his HIV-positive accuser, but said he showered afterwards thinking this would reduce his risk of being infected.

Mr Zuma, who was inaugurated（正式就职） as president last April, was acquitted⁹（无罪开释） of the charges.

But while his private life has been widely criticised, his public stance on Aids has been broadly welcomed, adds our correspondent.

The campaign he is now backing hopes to get 15 million people tested during the next year, and provide drugs to 80% of those needing them.

More than five million of South Africa's population are HIV-positive.

Last month Mr Zuma survived a vote of no-confidence called by opposition¹⁰ parties after it emerged he had fathered a child with Sonono Khoza, 39, the daughter of local World Cup boss Irvin Khoza.