Nelson Mandela has launched a new project to get people actively involved in fighting AIDS in South Africa, one of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic, his charitable foundation said on Monday.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation is appealing to South Africans to volunteer their services to non-governmental AIDS groups in a campaign bearing the number Mandela wore while he was imprisoned for fighting white apartheid rule - 46664.

“The 46664 volunteer campaign ... really has at the heart an attempt to bring as many South Africans (as possible) into the issue of HIV and AIDS,” said Foundation CEO John Samuel.

“More than the efforts that are currently under way we need to ensure that as many people as possible not only care but are prepared to act,” he said.

The campaign will kick off on Tuesday, a week before World AIDS Day. South Africa has more HIV cases than any other country, with some 5 million infections - more than 10 percent of the country’s population.

Since stepping down as South Africa’s president in 1999, Mandela has been a tireless AIDS campaigner.

In contrast, critics say, the response to the pandemic of his successor Thabo Mbeki - who has questioned the link between HIV and AIDS - has been aloof and sluggish.

The roll-out of South Africa’s public drug program has been slow, even after Mbeki’s government last year dropped its long-standing opposition to provide life-prolonging drugs to the sick and dying.

Volunteers for the new drive can get involved by phoning the 46664 hotline or e-mailing the foundation’s Web site. This will put them in touch with NGOs covering a range of activities from caring for AIDS orphans to counseling.