Program series to tackle HIV/AIDS awareness

During the hour a student sits through class today, two U.S. citizens will have died from AIDS.

As of 2003, 4,316 people in the Triangle were infected with HIV, according to the Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina Web site.

And worldwide, 3 million people died from AIDS in 2000 alone.

To bring these figures to the forefront of students’ attention, the service component of the Student Global Health Committee is sponsoring a series of talks about AIDS titled “Narratives of HIV: Hearing Their Stories.”

“It’s a virus that not only affects millions of infected people worldwide, but their families and communities are affected, too,” said Zipatly Mendoza, committee member and a graduate student at the School of Public Health. “It’s a ripple effect.”

The series will bring various speakers to campus who plan to educate the community about the severity of the global AIDS crisis and how people can help battle it.

“(AIDS) is something that’s clearly not going away,” said Heather Morrow, committee member and graduate student at the School of Public Health. “It’s something that will get worse and worse until we take direct action.”

The series begins at 7 p.m. tonight in 133 Rosenau Hall with the viewing of “A Closer Walk,” a documentary about HIV/AIDS worldwide and what people can do to help stem the disease’s tide.

Other events consist of speeches by Greg Behrman, author of “The Invisible People,” and Kate Winskell, associate director of Emory University’s Center for Health, Culture and Society.

There are multiple ways for students to help take action against AIDS. The most important and most basic is to be cautious and to encourage peers to do the same, committee members said.

“I think people forget that it will only take one time of unprotected sex, and then it will never go away,” Morrow said.

There also are many volunteer opportunities in the Triangle community to help people who are already infected.

The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina is a local organization that serves the Triangle community through education, prevention programs and advocacy for those afflicted with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Members of the alliance will speak and answer questions tonight after the showing of “A Closer Walk.”

Alpha Chi Omega sorority also organizes volunteers for UNC Project OpenHand, an organization that provides basic nutritional information and home-delivered meals to people infected with HIV.

Volunteers meet to plan meals at 6 p.m. every Monday in room 3209 of the Student Union.

“The goal of this week is to really highlight and bring to the forefront of our minds that AIDS hasn’t gone away,” Morrow said.

“Even if it isn’t in our core group or community, we can still help people who are effected by being engaged.”

For more details about the Student Global Health Committee and the narratives, visit http://www.unc.edu/sghc.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.