UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (UPI) -- The United Nations launched a global AIDS awareness campaign Monday with the help of its newest special representative, actress Naomi Watts.
Watts is the official face of "Four for Everyone," launched to mark the 10th anniversary of the UNAIDS agency and to promote AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. The Oscar-nominee has appeared in "King Kong", "21 Grams" and other movies.
Watts returned Saturday from a weeklong trip to Zambia, where she toured clinics and talked with people living with HIV/AIDS.
"There's just not enough people there to go around," Watts said. "Those fighting this fight on the ground need more money, more doctors, more clinics... more bicycles, even more food."
Also Monday, the first regional AIDS conference in Eastern Europe and Central Asia kicked off. The region saw 270,000 new cases reported last year, making it the world's most rapidly expanding AIDS epidemic, according to a statement from UNAIDS.
The Global Fund, the world's largest external donor for HIV prevention, will invest $300 million in Russia, which will increase its domestic spending in parallel, and another $400 million in the rest of the region, the agency said.
Asked about her position on abstinence as an anti-AIDS strategy, Watts said, "There are certainly people for whom abstinence is not an easy thing. While it's probably the safest way to avoid (HIV/AIDS), it's impossible for certain people to practice that. So, yeah, I'm a big believer in contraception."
