A mere ten years after Aids was first officially diagnosed in 1981, Mercury's death forced the disease to the forefront of the public's mind.

Now, 17 years on, the picture is much the same but awareness has plummeted. In Sheffield alone there are an estimated 1,200 with HIV/Aids – one-third of whom will not know they have it. In the UK 7,000 people were diagnosed as being HIV positive in the last 12 months.

But Sheffield-based band CD4 are reinstating Aids awareness through their music. Recently the group released a DVD called Safe Sex, with musicians Carlos Lopez and CD4. To promote the DVD and encourage Aids awareness the group is playing some of its songs this weekend, supported by a live DJ and VJ, who will be projecting images from the Safe Sex DVD.

Maria Castelo-Branco, a campaigner and band associate, says: "The only way to stop Aids is prevention – we're trying to get young people involved in our project to raise awareness.

"Music is an international language – through music we can tell people what they don't usually hear. We have important testimonies to tell."
Dr Alicia Vedio, a physician of infectious diseases at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, says: "Awareness of Aids has to be there and people need to know about it. The song Safe Sex, which was released last year, is a happy, light and funky song showing scenes of people at risk, such as couples, gay men and people in clubs. The message is 'be careful'."

CD4 plays at the Forum on Sunday at 6.30pm.