Aishwarya Rai appointed as International Goodwill Ambassador

 The United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has appointed Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as its International Goodwill Ambassador.

Her job will be now is to raise global awareness on protecting children from HIV infection and to increase access to antiretroviral treatment.

The appointment came a day before the start of the annual debate at the UN General Assembly. Aishwarya has been involved in humanitarian issues for many years and will now have a special focus on HIV/AIDS.

The main focus now is to advocate for the global plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children and keeping their mothers alive. This plan was launched at the UN in June 2011 and focuses on 22 countries including India, which account for more than 90 per cent of all new HIV infections among children.

What is UNAID?
UNAIDS, is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an expanded response to HIV and AIDS that includes preventing transmission of HIV, providing care and support to those already living with the virus, reducing the vulnerability of individuals and communities to HIV and alleviating the impact of the epidemic. UNAIDS seeks to prevent the HIV/AIDS epidemic from becoming a severe pandemic.