Chris Smith News
30 January 2005 - Chris Smith reveals he is HIV positive
Former Culture Secretary, Chris Smith, revealed in The Sunday Times today that he has been HIV positive for 17 years.
Smith, who was the first openly gay Cabinet minister, told the paper that he decided to go public after Nelson Mandela announced his son had died of Aids.
Chris Smith who was diagnosed in 1987, said he wanted to 'demystify' the condition and to challenge prejudices, adding that HIV was a "liveable and treatable condition".
He said: "It means you have to take quite a lot of pills, but if you carry on doing that, there's no reason why you should not be able to go on living with this condition."