Experts and involved students alike want the Penn community to do more to fight AIDS in the world's largest continent.
Asha for Education, an organization dedicated to social and economic change in India, and Penn for UNICEF hosted a workshop in Logan Hall aimed at addressing a supposed taboo surrounding HIV and AIDS in South Asia.
World Bank research analyst Sarika Jain kicked off the event with a statistic.
"Five million people in India are estimated to be affected by HIV/AIDS," Jain said.
Panelists attributed many of the problems associated with the disease in South Asia to a heightened stigma and lack of awareness regarding the disease.
Tonya Taylor, a Penn Anthropology professor, described the issues facing infected South Asian women.
"There's a growing number of women, who, because they don't receive higher-level educations, don't have access to health care and knowledge that can empower them," she said. "Underlying political and socioeconomic inequalities prevent women from being able to negotiate safe sex."
Panelists also stressed the importance of teaching sex education to younger generations as a way to prevent disease.
"Youth are just beginning their sexual behavior," panelist and World Bank consultant Mary Beth Levin said. "Talking to a 16-year-old about using condoms is much more effective than talking to a 45-year-old about using a condom."
Following the panel discussion, audience members talked with the experts on student activism related to the pandemic.
College freshman Kavita Vinekar said she feels it's important to become involved in fighting the disease in South Asia despite geographic and cultural distances.
"We're living in a more globalized environment," she said. "Our world is getting smaller, and our responsibility as students is to learn more about these issues."
Aileene Halligan, a Penn for UNICEF board member and College sophomore, agreed that students should step up to increase awareness.
"Everyone should be tackling this taboo, making it less of a taboo and focusing on living with HIV/AIDS rather than dying with HIV/AIDS," Halligan said .
American Medical Students Association representative Tina Wu asked audience members to "urge the [Bush] administration and Congress to support full funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS."
"If you don't care, they won't care," Wu said. "You are their constituents. AIDS is so unique right now in that Republicans and Democrats both want to solve this problem."
