World AIDS Day Concert in India Postponed After Terrorist Attacks

A World AIDS Day rock concert scheduled to happen today in Pune, India has been delayed to sometime next week out of respect for the victims of last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The concert is part of a larger effort in India to use World’s AIDS Day to reach out to younger Indians.

According to the World AIDS Campaign, “Approximately 2.5 million people were living with HIV in India in 2006. Whilst almost 25% of the country’s population is between the ages of 15-29 years, this age group accounts for 31% of people living with HIV.”

The campaign includes events across the country as well as a “Stop AIDS Leadership Pledge” program that asks young Indians to send an SMS text message to show their support for combating HIV and AIDS. In return, AIDS organizations can use the numbers collected by the pledge’s to develop a better outreach network to at-risk youth.