Bangladeshi Celebrity Couple Joins UNAIDS Campaign Against HIV/AIDS

Today in Dhaka, a famous husband-and-wife team signed on to work as spokespeople for UNAIDS in Bangladesh. "I am extremely happy to have this opportunity," said Runa Laila, a noted vocalist who performs in several regional languages. "This society has given me so much, now it's my turn." Her husband, the film actor Alamgir Hossain, said the couple will work hard to raise AIDS awareness among young people. Muslim-majority Bangladesh is home to 144 million people, including an estimated 13,000 with HIV. But people in the conservative society are reluctant to discuss sex and STDs, and experts fear the epidemic could spread from neighboring India, whose HIV/AIDS caseload — 5.7 million — is the world's largest.

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