Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday, December 18, 2002
The screen idol, who has built bonds with India through his work with AIDS victims and support for the Tibetan government in exile, said he wanted to spread awareness about AIDS and prevent the disease from spreading in India.
"We have been through this in America. We have seen this happen... We made all the mistakes possible and many people died because we didn't know what needed to be done," Gere, who had a traditional red "tika" mark on his forehead, told reporters.
"I love India and I am very close to people in India and I don't want to see India make the same mistakes that we have made," said the star, once voted the World's Sexiest Man, after he lit a traditional oil lamp to inaugurate the center.
The home has been set up by the Naz Foundation Trust, an Indian voluntary group working to increase awareness about AIDS, and the Initiatives Foundation founded by Richard Gere.
India has four million people suffering from HIV or AIDS, making it second only to South Africa, and a US intelligence report has warned the figure could surge to 20-25 million by 2010.
Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates announced a $100 million grant to battle HIV/AIDS in India last month.
Although the Indian government has launched a program to fight the disease, sufferers in the world's second-most populous nation are frequently denied treatment by hospitals and clinics, thrown out by their families, evicted by landlords or sacked.
AIDS workers say some hospitals refuse even to treat someone living with a victim or deliver babies from HIV-positive women.
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