The message from Prisoner 46664 was starkly delivered: "Give one minute of your life to AIDS."
Mr Nelson Mandela, using his old convict number from South Africa's Robben Island, joined forces with veteran pop stars today to launch a global phone and Internet campaign to raise awareness of the killer disease.
"One minute can change the world," said Mr Mandela, waving a mobile phone and urging people to call special 46664 phonelines set up around the globe.
Callers can join what organisers hope will be the biggest ever petition designed to issue a wake-up call to governments.
They can also donate online at www.46664.com.
"46664 was my prison number for over 18 years," the former South African president said at the launch of the event in London today.
He was accompanited by award-winning rap singer Ms Dynamite, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen.
"I was known as just a number. Millions of people todayinfected with AIDS are classified as just a number. They too are serving a prison sentence for life," he said.
The 85-year-old icon of the apartheid struggle has been at the forefront of the battle to curb AIDS. About five million people are infected in South Africa, making it the worst affected nation in the world.