Hollywood star Richard Gere and industrialist Parmeshwar Godrej have launched the 'Heroes Project' with an aim to mobilize societal leaders and the media industry to fight HIV/AIDS in India.

The project has received a grant of up to $ 2.4 million over three years from Avahan, the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation's India AIDS initiative, and will implement the Heroes Project through the Gere Foundation, which has committed $ 250,000 in the first year towards production of public service announcements. The Gere Foundation will provide health and information expertise towards the project. Media company, Star India, will be investing $ 14 million in airtime through its media assets over the three-year project.

The event was also attended by Ashok Alexander, director of Avahan, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Robert Kelty, director of the Heroes Project; Tina Hoff, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation; and Dr. Suniti Solomon, founder Y R Gaitonde Care and board member of Avahan.

Richard Gere said, "I am proud to join my friend Parmeshwar Godrej in organizing the Heroes Project. India urgently needs heroes to come forward at this crucial moment to contain this epidemic which will help create a significant understanding and compassion as we concentrate on removing the stigma attached to the disease and are able to bring a message of urgency and promise to the people of India."

"The government and the industry should take some kind of responsibility in spreading AIDS awareness. India has an AIDS infected population of more than five million, which means one out of every seven AIDS patients globally is an India. If not acted rightly the future would be devastative," said Gere. The total global aids population is more than 45 million.

The three-years project will include a public education partnership with Star India, aimed at reducing stigma and discrimination associated with populations vulnerable to and affected by HIV/AIDS on its television properties. Star India's contribution to the Heroes Project will provide the campaign with a total of 26,000 public service messages that are due to air across Star's TV and radio channels. The public education campaign will launch in t a two-part series beginning July 2004. The first television message, featuring Indian cricket star Rahul Dravid, will debut on Star's networks in July.

Peter Mukerjee, CEO, Star India, said, "STAR India is proud to announced its role in this critical call to action. It is our hope by doing so that the door shall remain open to additional media companies in India and throughout the world. We accept out social responsibility to influence the solution rather than ignore the devastation."

The Heroes Project will conduct a public education campaign to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and convene a Leadership Council comprised of societal leaders from various sectors whose influence will be leveraged in order to make policy change in the field of HIV/AIDS. The public education campaign will use public service announcements, online and print content, television and radio programming as well as a series of educational events to raise awareness about the epidemic and impact public perceptions of the diseases. The Leadership Council intends to unite prominent leaders in the areas of business, entertainment, government, media, NGO and society to influence public opinion on HIV/AIDS in India. Conclusively, the Heroes Project aims to build a national climate in which societal and political leaders have the technical knowledge to mobilize effective and sustainable HIV/AIDS initiatives with India.

Ashok Alexander, director, Avahan, said, "The Heroes Project will allow us to contribute to 'mainstreaming; HIV/AIDS and reaching out to key stakeholders in order to create a favourable environmental for HIV/AIDS efforts in India."