India-Pakistan unity against AIDS

[Guest guest]

Pop idol seeks India-Pakistan unity against AIDS:

New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS) :

Pakistani pop star Salman Ahmad has asked archrivals India and

Pakistan to join hands in fighting AIDS as the dreaded disease sweeps

across the subcontinent.

" We must fight the battle together, " said Ahmad, lead singer of the

popular rock group Junoon that has vast swathes of fans on both sides

of the border.

" For too long have we ignored the problem, refused to confront it;

now we must fight and fight together, " Ahmad, a UN anti-AIDS

ambassador, told reporters here Wednesday.

There are currently an estimated 43 million people with HIV/AIDS in

the world, with five million new cases being added every year. India,

with 5.1 million HIV/AIDS cases, has the second highest incidence of

the disease in the world after South Africa.

In his role as ambassador, Ahmad, a trained doctor, is trying to

create culture specific messages for the subcontinent to promote

better awareness.

" A slogan that works in the US doesn't work in Pakistan or India, "

said the pony-tailed singer and lead guitarist. " In our culture, lots

of people still don't talk openly about sex, so it becomes quite a

challenge to talk about AIDS.

" My idea has always been to link my core message with something that

the locals can quickly identify with. "

That's why Ahmad told the UN to use spirituality in their slogans and

posters in the subcontinent. " We are very spiritual people,

everything here is linked to faith, and people believe that whatever

is happening is god's will.

" That's why in the anti-AIDS poster I developed in Pakistan we used a

very popular Quranic verse, which says he who saves one life saves

the whole world.

" I changed that a little and said he who saves one life from AIDS

saves the whole world. And it really worked because it's a line

everyone is familiar with. "

The idea, he said, was to push the anti-AIDS message through to the

most vulnerable section, the youth, in ways they can identify with.

" Music is a great help and being a musician means young people relate

to us, they are willing to listen because we are not preachy and in

many ways speak their language, " said Ahmad.

India's first film on AIDS " Phir Milenge " will be released later this

month.

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