New Delhi, March 24:

He administered drugs to a patient from the city and called himself a ‘sugar coating for the bitter medicines of tuberculosis’. A.R. Rahman, musician and now global tuberculosis ambassador, was surely the star of the occasion at the 2nd Stop TB Partners’ Forum inaugurated here today.

Rahman will be composing an anthem on tuberculosis and will also be featuring in spots for the electronic media and print media ads. Though no deadline has been set, Rahman said he is working on the anthem, which will be composed for a global audience. It might also include musicians from countries with high incidence of TB.

‘‘Nothing has been finalised and we are working on it, maybe some of the musicians and composers from other high burden countries will be involved,’’ said Rahman. The anthem would be on the lines of Vandemataram composed by the musician some years ago.

TB kills millions of people across the world. Expressing his desire to help contain the disease, Rahman said: ‘‘It’s a shame that millions of people are getting killed when TB is completely curable.’’ Rahman also visited the NDMC polyclinic near Shastri Park and met a TB patient.

Earlier in his inaugural address, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee said that India had made great progress in fighting the disease. By 2005, the entire country would be covered by the internationally recommended DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment System), which is a short duration course for TB.

‘‘It seems to me that mass awareness campaigns on TB are not commensurate with the threat it poses,’’ Vajpayee told a delegation from 22 countries.

In a recorded message, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said there is a need to find new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines to reach the millennium development goal of halting and reversing the spread of TB by 2015. Annan said most deaths occur in developing countries.