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Richard Gere to launch AIDS campaign in India

     Chennai: Hollywood actor Richard Gere along with the Indian film fraternity on Friday announced to launch a massive AIDS awareness campaign in the country. The campaign, named Heroes Project, will be launched by the Gere Foundation and socialite Parmeswar Godrej on Saturday (October22) in Hyderabad. The show is being organised with the aim of involving the film fraternity to spread awareness and in the fight against HIV/AIDS. "One of the things that will destroy the potential of this country are diseases like HIV /AIDS. What has happened to Africa by this disease is no hidden fact. China is facing the same problem. Former Soviet Union is facing the same problem. A disease like this can destroy the fabric of society. This is moment when you have to look forward to it as a country as this problem can destroy everything," said Gere, while addressing a news conference in Chennai today. According to the United Nations, India has 5.1 million AIDS cases, the largest number in the world after South Africa. Some reports estimate the number of people afflicted in India could reach 20 million by 2010. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leads to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). No cure for AIDS has been found so far, however, several drugs have been found to work against HIV. Although the government has launched a nationwide project to build AIDS awareness in India, the world's second-most populous nation, it is facing an uphill social and cultural battle because of the enormous stigma attached to the disease. The disease is spreading from traditionally high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, drug users and homosexuals, to large rural and urban areas with huge migrant populations.