Mumah: Education key to fight against AIDS
Every year, 119 new cases of AIDS or HIV are reported in Utah according to recent statistics, said World AIDS Day carnival co-organizer Freddy Novoa.
Currently, 2,476 individuals in Utah are infected with AIDS and 1,062 are known to have HIV.
“World AIDS Day was first celebrated as an event for raising funds, increasing awareness and improving education,” Novoa said. “This year the global theme is universal access and human rights.”
Novoa, club president for VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood, said he worked with Rica Molet, president of the Black Student Union (BSU), to organize the event, which took place in the TSC Ballroom on Wednesday.
Molet said this was the second year VOX and BSU have taken action to promote awareness on campus.
“It seems like in Logan there’s not a lot of awareness for very many things in general,” Novoa said. “So we thought that if we organized something and just made it bigger, we’d start getting some awareness out.”
HIV can be transmitted through sex, intravenous drug-use or blood transfusions, he said. The virus attacks the body’s natural defenses, specifically lowering T-cells.
When the T-cells fall below a certain point, HIV gives way to AIDS, thereby making the victim more susceptible to diseases such as spinal and lung infections.
“Gay, straight, lesbian, whatever kind of sex you’re having, you still got to make sure you’re aware of what’s out there,” said Isaac Furniss, vice president of the Love is for Everyone (LIFE) club.
The LIFE club is USU’s gay-straight alliance and advocates for equal rights and safe sex.
Furniss said members of LIFE wanted to help with the carnival because HIV and AIDS affect everybody, no matter what demographic they are part of.
“I think (the carnival) is a really great way to get a lot of people involved because you’re just kind of casually playing games,” Furniss said. “You know, ‘Hey, by the way, this is for World AIDS Day, take a condom, use it, be safe, whatever.'”
There are an estimated 33.4 million affected individuals with HIV or AIDS in the world, Novoa said, citing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
He said almost a quarter of the world’s population does not know whether or not they have HIV.
Roughly 67 percent of those affected live in Sub-Saharan Africa, Novoa said.
“Well, I guess the question is, why should we care here at Utah State University?” said Joyce Mumah, doctoral candidate in sociology. “The truth about it is if part of the world is suffering from HIV and AIDS … it will ultimately impact the whole world.”
Mumah said her focus is on female vulnerability to HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Cameroon, where she is from.
Mumah is also a member and former vice president of the African Student Association (AFSA). AFSA was another group that played a part in educating and spreading awareness at the carnival.
“You need to encourage people to go test. The stigma and discrimination associated with HIV really discourages people from testing,” Mumah said.
Helping poor nations by lifting them out of poverty is how the HIV and AIDS epidemic should be tackled, Mumah said.
Education is another key strategy for a successful fight against HIV and AIDS, Mumah said.
“If you were to go around and take a poll of Utah State students, how many of them can really talk to you about HIV/AIDS?” Mumah said. “They are either uninformed or misinformed about it.”
Access and Diversity Center intern Ernest Cooper, Jr. said many people at USU have misconceptions about HIV and AIDS as well as who they can affect.
Cooper said he has a family member who is African American and two friends, Hispanic and Caucasian, who are HIV positive. He said this demonstrates how close and how real the need for awareness is.
“It’s one of those things that even if you’re not sexually active, if you’re choosing to abstain, things like that, it’s good to be knowledgeable because you could help someone else,” Cooper said.
“So it affects way more and has more of a scope than people want to believe,” he said. “And they need to know. They need to see what it’s like and what it’s about.”
– dan.whitney.smith@aggiemail.usu.edu