Mumbai:

This unique, high-profile celebrity carnival replicates the one held in Los Angeles and New York for the past 13 years. This model has been very successful and is heavily supported by Hollywood.

The carnival in Mumbai will be held at the Turf Club on 20 December 2002 between 6 pm and 9 pm. The highlight of the event is that major celebrities will run the game stalls of the carnival. The event will give an opportunity to adults and children to play games, win prizes and take photographs with their favourite stars.

The objective of this project is to create awareness about pediatric AIDS, the focus being prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. A Time For Heroes India will raise political and community awareness for the urgent need to address this problem.

Gere, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, Anoushka Shankar, M F Husain, Kapil Dev and Godrej, along with many other major celebrities, will participate in this carnival.

Says Godrej: “I am happy working in partnership with Gere to raise awareness for this pandemic, and initiate an action programme to contain it. With this project we hope to create a significant understanding, compassion, concentrate on removing the stigma attached to the disease and bring a message of urgency and promise to our people. A Time For Heroes India is the first step, and I am grateful to the large number of celebrities who have readily pledged their support to this cause. As always the movie industry is in the forefront of any crisis in India.”

A large number of Indian corporates have also pledged their support to this cause, in terms of both funds and time.

Despite scientific advances, more than 2,000 children are infected with HIV worldwide every day. Reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV is vital, as 25-35 per cent of the children born to HIV positive pregnant women will be born infected if there is no intervention.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has made dramatic strides in reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV globally through its International Call to Action Project, which provides funding for community mobilisation and training to healthcare workers, HIV counselling and testing, anti-retroviral prevention regiments and infant feeding education.

Recent statistics have shown that HIV has reached epidemic proportion in India. While national infection levels are estimated to be as low as 1 per cent, with a population of close to one billion people, even relatively low rates of HIV translate into huge numbers of infections.

With 27 million deliveries annually in India, a 2-per cent infection rate means approximately 540,000 HIV-infected mothers deliver each year. Furthermore, while national infection rate may be low, there is considerable variance across countries.

The Gere Foundation India is currently helping to support six recently established implementation sites and 25 health clinics in India. These programmes will complement the work of the Indian government in initiating prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS in the private sector.