MADRAS, India, Dec 3 (AFP) - Hollywood heartthrob Richard Gere on Wednesday took his campaign to raise AIDS awareness to India, telling patients they should shake off the threat of death to live life to the full.
"Remember AIDS is not a death sentence; you can still live your full life," Gere told a woman caller as he inaugurated an AIDS helpline started by the YRG Foundation, a non-governmental organisation in the southern city of Madras.
"Go right ahead and marry the man you love," he said.
On a "Heroes" mission to India aimed at to persuading film and sports stars to campaign for AIDS awareness, Gere met officials of Tamil Nadu state government, aid workers and fellow movie stars.
The "Pretty Woman" star told reporters he was keen to unite India's creative community behind the task of spreading AIDS awareness across the country.
"To me, this is more than just photo ops," he said.
Gere became an AIDS awareness campaigner in the United States in 1981 when a friend died of the disease.
He began to travel the world to spread AIDS awareness and decided to focus on India "because India, Russia and China are the places where AIDS will spread."
"In India, investing time and energy towards prevention of AIDS is a bargain now. I don't want India to make the same mistakes that the US did. We saw how bad it got there," he said.
The silver-haired actor said government and private organisations should work together to protect women and children from the virus.
"The organisations must help deal with the issue through positive images."
In the evening, Gere met several Tamil movie stars at a get-together arranged by the US Consul General Richard Haynes, telling the actors and actresses they should lend their "star value" to the programmes.
India has 4.58 million people living with HIV/AIDS, second only to South Africa, which has an infected population of around five million.
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