As the world gears up this year for a final push towards the Millennium Development Goals agreed to by all countries in 2000, I write to express my deep concern for women and children affected by HIV and AIDS - a subject sometimes in the shadows of larger themes like poverty and international peace and development but one which affects all of them.

This is why I am supporting the ’Born HIV Free’ campaign to mobilise public support for a world where no child is born with HIV by 2015.

I am not a doctor, a researcher, or a politician. I am simply someone moved by the injustice of a world where the knowledge and medications exist to prevent transmission of HIV and deaths from AIDS, and yet millions of people still become infected and die. I am lending my voice to women and children in particular because, in many parts of the world, their voices are the softest, and they are most disadvantaged by unequal access to resources, discrimination, and, far too often, gender-based violence. In large parts of the world, the face of AIDS is a woman’s face.

Today, treatment to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child exists. The Global Fund is the main channel for funds to achieve this goal. We can make it happen: show your support to the Global Fund by signing your name.

At the heart of the Born HIV Free campaign is a collection of videos, ranging from stunning animations produced by Oscar-winning companies to intimate low-budget snapshots from the fight against mother-to-child transmission of HIV. New videos will be launched throughout the campaign. We hope they will inspire you to sign up in the knowledge that an HIV-free generation is now possible.