JOHANNESBURG (Reuters):

United States talk show host Oprah Winfrey took an AIDS test yesterday at her new $40 million South African school for disadvantaged girls, hoping to set an example to pupils in one of the world's most infected nations.

Winfrey said when she opened the school last week she hoped that a better education would help shield South African girls from contracting HIV.

She took the test during a family day at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, saying students would be encouraged but not forced to take tests with parental approval, a statement said.

"To be a great leader you must be of sound mind, body and spirit. Part of leadership is having the courage to demonstrate true action. Today, I have taken the test to demonstrate why it's so important," Winfrey said.

The results of her and the students' tests would be kept confidential.

Winfrey promised to provide free anti-retroviral treatment to all parents and relatives living in the students' homes.

world's worst epidemic

South Africa's AIDS epidemic is one of the world's worst, with one-in-nine people infected with HIV and nearly 1,000 people dying from AIDS every day.

The sprawling 52-acre campus in a sleepy community south of Johannesburg boasts classrooms and laboratories equipped with flat-screen computers, a yoga studio, beauty salon and library.

Anti-apartheid icon and former President Nelson Mandela praised Winfrey for building the school, which took in 152 mostly black girls in its first batch, chosen from thousands of applicants.