Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha fights AIDS at ground zero, East Africa, one of the hardest-hit regions in the world. But Father Gideon’s involvement in the issue is far more personal than just working with HIV-positive people and children orphaned by the disease: he’s been fighting it himself for more than a decade.

Infected by a blood transfusion in the late 1970s, Rev. Gideon was among the first African clergy to go public with his HIV status. Braving the stigma attached to HIV in Africa, Rev. Gideon took his story and his efforts to the public arena to raise awareness about the virus and its prevention. Rev. Gideon won World Vision’s Bob Pierce Award for Christian Service in 2001 for his contribution to fighting that stigma and discrimination. He serves as a member of the Uganda AIDS Commission, and coordinator of HIV/AIDS Programs for the Namirembe Diocese of the Anglican church.

He will speak on “Breaking the Silence and Changing Attitudes about HIV/AIDS” at the World Vision Forum on HIV/AIDS May 17 to 18 at the Sheraton New York Towers in New York City.