Why do so many 'stars' support AIDS charities compared to other charities?

Call me cynical, but sometimes I wonder whether it's because AIDS is seen a young, sexy disease (often spread through sexual intercourse) and carries with it connations of supporting minorities (gay people, poor people in Africa, drug users) whereas illnesses like Alzheimers and Parkinsons are seen as diseases of old people (boring fuddy-duddies who don't do wild, crazy things like having sex or taking drugs) and consequently there's no mileage in it for the star to be associated for them.

Maybe some of the reasons are these:

- AIDS is a preventable disease. If people are aware of the risk and are careful they're unlikely to get it. AIDS need a lot more promotion than illnesses that you can't prevent (or not so easily), such as Alzheimers. People must be well informed, aware and careful in order to stop/reduce the spreading of AIDS.

- Young women with AIDS give birth to HIV positive children, who become orphans at a young age when both parents die from AIDS. Many of those children die from AIDS themselves when they're young.

- There is both a stigma and a lot of misconceptions about AIDS, which makes it harder to deal with the problem and makes it important to inform people and provide correct information.

- If nobody tries to stop/reduce the spreading of AIDS it will keep claiming more and more lives, leaving behind more and more orphans and people who are too weak to provide for themselves and take care of their family.

Can you see why it may seem more important to some people to support AIDS campaigns rather than Alzheimers campaigns? Alzheimers doesn't spread. It can't be prevented. It won't be a world-wide disaster. AIDS is a disaster that must be stopped before it gets even worse.

you are aware that the majority of AIDS sufferers are in fact HETEROSEXUAL WOMEN?
now can you see why so many celebs are behind this? to try and get the world to see what AIDS is all about and not what they THINK its all about

Probably because most of their friends are afflicted with this disease(Hollywood->california->most of the gay population).

The stars are all waiting to get all of their money back when they get it. Picture the scene:
Doctor: I'm sorry (insert star name) but the test show you have AIDS.
Star: Yes!!! I knew i would that charity work would come in handy. How much of my intial investment am I likely to get back?
lol

Let's look at the facts.
Many celebrities support a robust list of charitable causes.
Mary Tyler Moore and Patti Labelle: Diabetes
Susan Sarandon: Violence against Women, incl. Abroad
and many others:
Breast cancer, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's.
It's all represented.

to some extent - yeah. due to the lifestyle of those in Hollywood they are as subject to the disease as anyone else - if not moreso due to their past life styles. this desease hits them where they live and so -- it's popular to support. michael j fox is brning light to parkinsn's - he even said himself he'd never given that desease any thought as a young person.
you're not being cynical - you're being honest about your feelings.

You have, in a way, answered your own question already. A celebrity can't be seen associated with old geezers' or uncool charities. I would like to add that I think that celebrities are trying to raise awareness against the stigma that this disease carries. Just think about it, if somebody has cancer everybody else around them feel really sorry for that person and we all think that our hearts go out to the relatives. But if somebody is suffering from AIDS then some people are very quick to judge him/her and hand out all sorts of nasty comments. Not long ago I was reading on the news that in India they make women get rid of their own unborn babies themselves if they have HIV by describing them what and how to do fom a distance (how to self-abort a baby) as no medical staff would touch these women in fear of catching the disease. Now that is very dumb.

I鈥檓 not sure if I agree that all celebrities are focused on AIDS charities compared to others, but I can only assume that compared to Alzheimer鈥檚 and Parkinson鈥檚 disease, AIDS is more deadly due to the fact that millions are infected with it (60 million,) 90% OF PEOPLE INFECTED WITH THE VIRUS DOESN'T KNOW THEY HAVE HIV (The virus that matures to AIDS), and EVERY 6 SECONDS SOMEONE IS INFECTED with it mostly due to promiscuous sex (So much for fun) as compared to blood transfusion and drugs by needle sharing. Now Alzheimer鈥檚 and Parkinson鈥檚 disease, which I know is life threatening, is not a communicable disease. People get the disease on their own.

Lots of celebrities and film stars do support other charities too, some are patrons of other big charities, but Aids is something that is cursing peoples life's the world over, if we find a cure for it now before it gets so far out of control it effects everyone then the more the celebrities and film stars push it the better.

Some "stars" are there for publicity.