HIV/AIDS Ambassador
Prasada Rao is from India, he hails from a family of poets and scholars in Andhra Pradesh, India, and has a distinguished academic career with post-graduation in Nuclear Physics from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He was a former Permanent Secretary of Health in Government of India.
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Mr Rao was the Director of India’s National AIDS Control Organization for five years before serving as India’s Permanent Secretary for Health and Family Welfare. There, he played an instrumental role in implementing a comprehensive and decentralized national AIDS control programme. He then worked in UNAIDS as the Regional Director for Asia Pacific from 2004 to 2009 and was later appointed as the Special Envoy of UN Secretary General, a position he held until July 2017. He also worked as a Special Advisor to UNAIDS on fast tracking the regional response to AIDS in Asia Pacific. He has also served as Member Secretary of two independent commissions on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific and is currently a Commissioner of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law.
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During his work, Mr Rao consistently advocated for the empowerment of vulnerable communities and people living with HIV as an essential element to achieving an effective AIDS response in Asia and the Pacific.
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Mr Rao launched his book ‘Celebrating Small Victories’ just in time for World AIDS Day 2020.
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