10th April 2006: Anand to represent "Avahan" as it's Brand Ambassador

Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand has become the first HIV-AIDS ambassador for Avahan, the India AIDS initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In his new role Vishwanathan Anand will become a champion for raising awareness of the epidemic in India.

Avahan will conduct public education campaign to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and also urge all sectors of the society to come together to fight the epidemic and to create a favorable atmosphere for HIV prevention and care efforts in India.

The public education campaign will use public service announcements and a series of educational events to raise awareness about the epidemic and impact public perceptions of the disease. In an effort to make HIV/AIDS part of the public dialogue and break the barrier of silence and stigma Vishwanathan will play a critical role given that he is one of India's best known and well loved sports icons.

He will engage in public awareness campaigns to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS. Also given his iconic status he will be instrumental in reaching out to his peers and other sports figures to collectively reach across Indian society, especially the youth of our country.

In addition, he may also focus on outreach to Indian business and industry leaders to become more involved in HIV prevention as well as engaging with the non-resident Indian (NRI) community to urge their involvement as well.