NEW YORK, NY  [Wednesday Dec.1.2004]  /WMQT.com/ -- Today marks the 17th annual World AIDS Day, and Alicia Keys is urging people to get involved in the fight against the deadly disease. Along with headlining various benefit concerts to raise awareness and money to treat AIDS, Keys is working with Keep A Child Alive, a non-profit group that provides life-saving medicine to children and families with HIV and AIDS. Avril Lavigne, Nelly, Good Charlotte, Rod Stewart, Josh Groban and Cher are also involved with the organization.

Last week, Keys wrote an open letter asking others to take action to stop AIDS. The letter appeared in Billboard magazine last Friday and portions of it can be read at http://www.keepachildalive.org/tell_a_friend_1.php. Writes Keys, "The disease is more than a humanitarian catastrophe; it is a moral crisis that is beginning to destroy whole countries." She adds, "I believe this should be as important as the war on terrorism; as important as rebuilding impoverished countries like Afghanistan or Iraq; as important as peace in the Middle East. This should be as important as if our own daughters and sons were dying."

Keys feels that even one person can make a difference in the battle against AIDS. "We ALL need to get involved," she writes. "Otherwise, we'll be known as the generation with everything except compassion."

For more information on HIV/AIDS or to make a donation, visit the following Web sites:

Keep a Child Alive: http://www.keepachildalive.org/
Artists Against AIDS Worldwide: http://www.aaaw.org/index.html
AIDS Org: http://www.aids.org/
DATA: http://www2.data.org/

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