Elton John, Prince Harry, seek to 'smash' HIV stigma

Elton John and Britain's Prince Harry launched a USD1.2 billion initiative today to "break the cycle" of HIV transmission as scientists announced disappointing results in the quest for an AIDS cure.

On the second day of a major international AIDS conference in Amsterdam, the celebrity duo lent their mega-wattage star power to efforts to end the lingering stigma around HIV, and protect future generations against it.

The target of their initiative, dubbed the MenStar Coalition, is young men -- among whom infections are on the rise.

"Young people are the only age group where HIV infections are rising, not falling," warned rock star and veteran AIDS campaigner John.

"We have to do much, much more to bring men, especially younger men, more fully into the fold" -- so also shielding their sexual partners, he insisted.

Men aged 24 to 35 were accessing HIV testing and treatment at "unacceptably low rates," said the flamboyant singer.

"If we want to win this fight, if we want to end AIDS once and for all, we must make men part of the solution" and give them the tools to protect themselves as well as "their wives and girlfriends, their sisters, and daughters, but also critically their brothers and their sons." -
"Inspired by the growing alarm of the rate of new HIV infections among young women, this campaign is bravely tackling the root of this problem -- the lack of awareness of HIV prevention amongst hard-to-reach young men."