Participants attend the opening ceremony of the HIV/AIDS Conference for the African Military at Nile Resort Hotel in Jinja, eastern Uganda on March 11, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)

According to Mugenyi, there are currently 25 million people in Africa living with HIV and only 3 million of them are on treatment." For every two people on treatment, five are getting infected, we are mopping the floor while the tap is flowing," he said, noting that the continent has a serious challenge of dealing with prevention.

The conference attended by over 60 participants including senior military officers from 15 African countries will discuss HIV/AIDS and the African Military, HIV/AIDS and peace keeping in Africa, managing the impact of HIV/AIDS in the military, among others.

Experts said while concern over how HIV/AIDS affects Africa's armed forces has increased, there is little known regarding the extent to which the militaries are being affected.

The senior military officers at this meeting are considering forming a network that will be used to increase the fight against the pandemic which has greatly affected the armed forces.

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Editor:Yang Jie