While events like the release of the movie Rent have made AIDS a hot topic of conversation, a panel of experts said that the public still holds many misconceptions about the disease.
Last night's panel on AIDS in the African Diaspora sought to educate students and faculty about issues concerning HIV and AIDS in Africa, the Caribbean and even here in Philly.
Organized by four African student associations promoting the concept of "Umoja," which means "unity" in Swahili, the panel hosted medical anthropologists Ellen Foley and Tonya Taylor.
"If you work in Africa, HIV/AIDS is a very loud conversation," Foley said, adding that she believes the talk has quieted in the United States.
All panelists emphasized the lack of knowledge and education about HIV and AIDS.
Often, the specific AIDS situation in various countries shapes citizens' mentalities about the disease, said Foley. She added that some individuals can panic and assume that death occurs immediately.
Consequently, Philadelphia "has sketchy knowledge of HIV/AIDS." Foley said. "If you don't know about treatment, what incentive do you have to get tested?"
Nearly 40 million people worldwide currently live with HIV or AIDS, 64 percent of whom reside in sub-Saharan Africa.
Taylor stressed that the epidemic cannot be attributed to one single factor but is instead the result of "a cluster of variables ... [that] have created a 'perfect storm.'"
In Africa, political instability, lack of health care and poverty result in forced labor migration and contribute to the spreading of AIDS, Taylor said.
"If you are poor, you don't have access to resources. You might have to migrate, creating a rupture in the family dynamic,"she said.
She stated that young people are especially at risk.
"HIV affects the people most productive in society," Taylor said.
She emphasized that while surveys conducted reveal a general knowledge of HIV/AIDS in some African citizens, "what's missing from this equation is that their lives are constrained."
Taylor said that gender inequality and the sexual culture in Africa remain large components of the problem. Those infected in cities tend to return to rural regions with limited access to Western medicine.
Contrary to what many students at the event believed, Taylor does not think that increased awareness is the only key to minimizing the impact of the disease.
"There's no magic bullet .... It's not just about education," she said.
