IF THERE is one thing University students are good at, it is rallying around a cause. From the recent upsurge of support for the living wage campaign to the slew of natural disasters in the past year both here and abroad, students have stepped up with the typical benefit concerts, fund raisers and care packages. Well done. Yet with catastrophic events like hurricanes and earthquakes we are called to duty for one-shot deals, despite that the poverty and socioeconomic divides that compounded the situations that followed Hurricane Katrina existed long before the rain and wind came.
Similarly, there is another catastrophic world crisis that is largely due to poverty, economic divides and health disparities that happens every day of every year in Charlottesville, in the United States and in and every country in the world.
Every day, 55 young people in the United States are infected with HIV. By this statistic from Advocates for Youth, 5005 people between the ages of 15 and 25 have been infected with HIV since Hurricane Katrina hit. Globally, HIV claims 8,000 lives every day.
The majority of HIV cases and suffering are in Africa, and we cannot all be Global Health Scholars. However, feeling helpless and adopting inaction would not be in our spirit of service, compassion and selflessness that those coordinating the Katrina Aid and Relief Effort and the Pakistani earthquake relief efforts demonstrated.
The first part of action is understanding that HIV is not just a virus that infects Africans or gay men. Most of us should know that by now. According to the Virginia Department of Health, 27,800 Virginians are living with HIV. Given the lack of comprehensive sexuality health education, needle-exchange programs or access to primary care physicians, it is not surprising that Virginia is the 12th leading state in the nation for number of new AIDS cases in 2004, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
These are Virginians with various ethnicities, economic backgrounds and sexualities.
So what? What does this mean for college students? Should we have a benefit concert? A nice sentiment, given the drastic budget cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as local agencies such as the AIDS/HIV Services Group of Charlottesville. Prevention funding from the Department of Health and Human Services to this organization was cut by $100,000, which went directly to the Katrina relief effort.
According to Kathy Baker, the executive director of AIDS Services Group, "The proposed funding cuts to the Ryan White Care Act will decimate the ability to provide support services for those living in rural areas of Virginia with HIV, such as getting them to doctors appointments because of the lack of transportation."
Moreover, because of the Indian Ocean tsunami last winter and the generosity of Americans, AIDS service organizations received less private funding as well. People's pocketbooks had less to spare for the everyday disaster of HIV.
Yet aside from the easy way out of whipping out your checkbook on the Lawn to give to the Red Cross and merrily skipping to class, each of us holds enormous potential as individuals to halt the spread of HIV, serve those in need and decrease the stigma associated with this virus -- efforts which don't have to include donating money. Check out a vaccine trial that is always in need of willing participants. Volunteering is another favorite of University students -- ASG and other organizations could always use kind people to work at the office, be a buddy to a person in Charlottesville living with HIV or babysit for children of parents living with HIV during doctor appointments.
However, if you are in the position to donate money, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a good place to start.
Today is World AIDS Day. The theme this year is "Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise." You can let the day go by without a passing thought. That is a personal decision that I respect, and I am not using this space to say that everyone should care immensely about AIDS. But if you do, maybe you will attend the annual candlelight vigil and remember someone you have lost to HIV/AIDS and that will be it. If you want to embrace the spirit of this year's theme, you can use this day as a starting point to take action every day of the year. Feeling helpless is not an option.
Steph Shaw is a Cavalier Daily contributor. She is director of AIDS Service, Awareness, and Prevention at the University.
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