Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has joined hands with the UN to spread HIV awareness in India for three years now, and this time her focus is geared towards combating HIV infections in children.
As the globe observed World AIDS Day on Tuesday, the actress played her part in raising awareness on the deadly virus infection by voicing her opinion on sex education and how it should be made compulsory in schools.
Speaking during the event held in Mumbai, Ash said, ”Sex education is very important, we have all had it. It is important to be taught in schools. In the urban culture a lot of schools have it and I would love to know whether it is happening across the board, all over the nation,”Pinkvilla quoted her as saying.
The former beauty queen feels that talking about HIV/AIDS is important in order to eliminate the social stigma associated with the disease.
“As long as we keep the communication [on HIV/ AIDS] going, people will remain informed and educated. The perceived social stigma should definitely be pulled down. That will be the day when the issue is more practically discussed and that’s when it will become more effective,” she said.
“You actually address it as something that needs attention and what action will follow. You have concerns of the social stigma of feeling gagged to actually communicate, that is what we’re constantly working towards. Once those barriers disappear, the work becomes more effective,” she added.
Aishwarya is also glad to be a part of this cause. ”The UN had been communicating with me over a while for us to come on board together, as there are lots of causes that need attention,” she said.
“I was glad that at the time I did join hands with UNAIDS. I just wanted to help reach out to a lot of women across the world, but largely in our own country,” she added.
Twenty-two celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi and Shruti Haasan have lent their voices to an animation feature on HIV/AIDS made by an NGO for schools and youth, which was also launched on Tuesday.
