Robbie declares 'emergency' on AIDS and HIV problems

According to Sky News, pop superstar Robbie Williams, in his positions as special ambassador to UNICEF (the children's branch of the United Nations), will call for HIV and AIDS to be declared a global emergency.

His appeal, to be made through the UNICEF website, follows a trip to Mozambique in May when he met orphans whose parents had died from the disease.

On Thursday a web page will be launched featuring footage of Robbie's trip to the African country, where an estimated 700 people a day are infected.

UNICEF estimates there will be 13 million AIDS orphans by the end of 2000, the majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Williams will be involved with the campaign, called Growing Up Alone, for 18 months. The campaign also highlights the suffering of children forced to grow up alone due to the effects of war and poverty.

Williams' interest in UNICEF blossomed after a trip to Sri Lanka with rock star Ian Dury, who died of cancer earlier this year.

--AllPop