Elizabeth Taylor: Young people do not believe they are at risk of getting HIV

Young people do not believe they are at risk of getting HIV, says actress Elizabeth Taylor on World AIDS Day.

The Hollywood icon made her statement in a newspaper column with the headline: "In AIDS pandemic, 'No one is immune'."

She told USA Today readers: "So what do we do while we wait for a cure?

"Talk to a young person. We have a generation of young people who do not believe they are at risk, who do not believe they need to use a condom, who cannot remember a time when drugs were not available to treat HIV.

"And we must have hope for all humankind: No one is isolated from this pandemic and no one is immune."

Dame Taylor's statements come at a time when the world focuses on the spread of AIDS. Taylor, 75, founder of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and co-founder of The Foundation for AIDS Research, wrote about the changing face of the disease in the US - where 25 years ago it was initially associated with gay men.

She says: "While the UN and CDC [The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] say the percentage of people worldwide living with HIV has plateaued [sic] and new infections have fallen, at home [in the US] the black community is especially vulnerable. "African-Americans, who make up 12 per cent of the US population, account for nearly 50 per cent of all infections, according to the CDC.

"The rate of HIV/AIDS diagnoses for black women is 20 times the rate for white women."

This picture, the actress notes, is in stark contrast to the early days of the illness when it was widely associated with gay men. "Terms like 'gay cancer' sent shockwaves throughout the nation," she wrote. "No one knew what this was or how to stop it."

Dame Taylor was spurred on to raise awareness of the disease when it struck her friend and former co-star Rock Hudson. The actor, who died in October 1985 aged 59, hid his homosexuality for most of his acting career. But when Taylor turned to Hollywood to join her in her fight against the disease she says she was met with the cold shoulder. She says: "I knew this crisis needed attention and money to create public, governmental and media awareness.

"When I first started fundraising back then, the entertainment industry shied away - the stigma was great.

"Since then - well, the statistics are staggering."

She adds: "Today, I am heartened to see so many talented artists join this fight.

"Supporting World AIDS Day on Saturday carries no stigma in 2007.

"The world now recognises the threat that HIV/AIDS poses to all of our lives."