Bono gets ball rolling for Aids campaign

Bono teamed up with some of the world’s top footballers as he aimed to “turn up the heat” on politicians over the HIV and Aids crisis in South Africa.

The U2 front-man said it would be possible to turn the devastating situation around over the next few years with the world’s focus on South Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

He was joined by Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who declared that saving lives was more important to him than winning this season’s Premier League title.

Announcing a new deal between Nike and Red in central London on the eve of World Aids Day, Bono said: “This is a very big day for everyone involved in the fight against Aids.”

He said the Red initiative was not just about raising funds.

“We wanted to create some heat on the issue,” he said.

The rock star and Aids campaigner said Nike’s marketing prowess was exactly what was needed.

He said: “These are winners.

“If we really keep our concentration over the next few years things might just start to turn around.”

He praised the selection of Premier League footballers who joined Drogba at today’s launch.

They included Chelsea’s Joe Cole, Arsenal’s Andrei Arshavin and Denilson and Everton’s Lucas Neill.

Bono said it was “poetic” to have athletes at the peak of their physical fitness “thinking about people who are very vulnerable and weak”.

Asked what made him a good Aids campaigner, Bono said: “You have to not mind being a pain in the ass and at times it feels like a broken record.

“You’ve got to be prepared to look foolish but there isn’t anything foolish about saving lives.”

He said he was inspired when he looked into the eyes of a mother whose child had died needlessly and saw no anger.

Bono was speaking at the launch of Nike’s partnership with Red, which aims to engage business and consumer power to help eliminate Aids in Africa.

Nike launched pairs of Red laces, as worn by Drogba in Chelsea’s victory over Arsenal yesterday, and all the proceeds from sales will go to the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

But the heat might have been turned up too much for one man who fainted during the press conference at Nike’s Oxford Street branch.