Carla Bruni to take up ambassador's role in global campaign against AIDS

London, Dec 1 : Inspired by a family tragedy, French first lady Carla Bruni is all set to spearhead a global campaign against AIDS.

Bruni, who married French President Nicolas Sarkozy after a whirlwind romance in Feb, will take up the reins as a figurehead in the global fight against the killer disease.

It was expected that the lady in question would be appointed an "ambassador" for the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a Geneva-based organisation backed by the United Nations.

For a long time, Bruni was contemplating which cause to embrace as first lady, and what looks like, she chose AIDS influenced by a family tragedy that occurred in 2006.

Bruni's brother, with whom she had a close relationship, died after a long battle with the illness at the age of 46.

In fact, in her latest album too, Bruni has dedicated a song called 'Hi, Sailor' to Virginio, an artist and passionate yachtsman, who had frequently crossed the Atlantic single-handed.

In Carla's words, the death caused "emptiness" in the family and in 2007 Marisa, her mother, set up the Virginio Bruni Tedeschi Foundation in his memory. Backed by Unesco. The charity is dedicated to fighting AIDS.

And as the former model and singer is takes up her new role, she is expected to work closely with Michel Kazatchkine, the French director of the Global Fund, a famous immunologist who has been engaged in the battle against Aids since 1983.

Even Sarkozy is reportedly supportive of her decision and has encouraged her to speak out in public.

"She's a highly intelligent woman. He trusts her," The Times Online quoted an aide as saying.

ANI