Washington, Oct 2 : Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, has announced an international concert in Johannesburg to raise awareness about AIDS.

The event will be held on December 1st on the eve of World Aids Day to raise the profile of those with HIV/Aids across the globe.

"We are grateful that the City of Johannesburg has made it possible for 46664 to stage our first World Aids Day concert," E! Online quoted Mandela, as saying in a statement.

"Johannesburg has long asked for a concert to be held here and I am happy that we can now deliver to the people of Johannesburg. We look forward to being joined by thousands of citizens on that day,” he added.

Mandela’s 46664 concert is named after the number by which he was known as an inmate during his 27 years in prison.

"The 46664 campaign has done great work in putting the global spotlight on the issue of HIV and AIDS. We will continue to use celebrities from the world of music, sports and entertainment to speak to the youth about the disease,” he said.

Some 50,000 people are expected to attend the concert in which about 30 local and foreign artists will perform at the Ellis Park stadium in the city centre.

The list of participating artists is scheduled to be made public at the end of next month.

Previous "46664" concerts, in which stars such as Queen, Cat Stevens, Annie Lennox and South Africans such as Johnny Clegg participated, took place in Cape Town and the Western Cape city of George, as well as in Spain and Norway.

Another edition is scheduled for June 27 next year in London to mark Mandela's 90th birthday.

Around 5.5 million people out of South Africa's population of 48 million are infected with HIV. (With inputs from ANI)