Dhaka, November 08 (bdnews24.com) - Celebrity couple Runa Laila and Alamgir Hossain Wednesday joined hands with UNAIDS to campaign against HIV/Aids in Bangladesh.
Runa, a leading singer, and her actor husband Alamgir signed a one-year contract with the international agency to work as "spokespersons".
"I consider this a great honour to me and my family," a delighted Runa told reporters at a news briefing in Dhaka.
"This society has given me everything, now it's my turn," she said.
Alamgir was also delighted to get the new role. "I am excited," he said after he signed the contract at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.
The couple will target mainly young people who are increasingly vulnerable to HIV infections because of lack of information, low perceptions about risks, UNAIDS said in a statement.
An estimated 13,000 people are HIV-infected in Bangladesh. People in the conservative society are reluctant to talk about sex and sexually transmitted diseases in families or schools.
The infection rate among intravenous drug users is above 4 percent, while it is only about 1 percent among sex workers, but risk factors for rapid spread of the deadly virus highly exist, experts said.
The risk of spreading the virus is high, as Bangladesh shares a 4,000-kilometre porous border with India, which has high prevalence rate of HIV-infection with more than 5 million people infected with the virus.
People cross the border frequently, posing serious threats of HIV-infection, while unsafe blood transfusion is a serious problem in Bangladesh, experts said.
Runa said she would engage young artistes in the awareness campaign to draw broader attention from the young people.
She has planned to release an album with anti-HIV/Aids awareness and deliver televised anti-AIDS messages.
"I'll meet policymakers to ask them for suitable policy to fight the deadly disease," she said.
Dan Odallo, UNAIDS Country Representative in Dhaka, said his organisation would continue support to keep the prevalence rate low in Bangladesh.
"It's just the beginning," Odallo said.
UNAIDS' campaign is part of the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum Initiative on HIV and Aids to which Runa and Alamgir have just added their parts. The initiative's South Asian portion was launched in 2002.
UNAIDS officials Mohammed Ali Bhuiyan and Lazeena Muna also spoke.
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