The Hindu Business Line : Beauty queen lends glamour to AIDS awareness drive

Get tested. It's in fashion. Reads the tagline of the AIDS awareness tour conducted by IG International, an events, marketing and entertainment company, which was in Hyderabad at the weekend as part of the 13-day India visit with a crew, including Miss Universe 2006, Ms Zuleyka Rivera, Social Activist and Fashion Designer, Ms Sanjana Jon, and other international models.

Through the medium of fashion, entertainment and celebrity power, the company aims to promote public awareness about AIDS. This is the fourth consecutive year that it is conducting this programme.

Miss Universe, Ms Zuleyka Rivera, said at the press conference here, "AIDS is spreading like an epidemic. This is a serious problem. Though I respect all religions, I do believe that the youth today needs to be spoken to about this issue. It's important to know your status. We can make a difference, if we are together and work as a team."

New York-based South Indian designer, Ms Sanjana Jon, told Business Line, "Last year, after our awareness programme in Delhi, there was 33 per cent increase in AIDS awareness. This year we are getting UN affiliation. So, things are definitely looking up for us."

Contrary to their belief that the `conservative' Indians might feel offended on such subjects, she said, "Yesterday, in Mumbai we visited some red light areas, we were literally mobbed. People want to know. They need the awareness and information more than money, which could have probably saved many of them from getting this dreaded curse."

The designer made her international debut in the fashion world at the Cannes film festival in 2004 and has been awarded the International Rising Star 2006 at the Vancouver Fashion Week.

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