The world AIDS epidemic will not be eliminated unless there is a massive push for behavioral change throughout society, according to panel members speaking last night in the Lewis Hartman Auditorium.
Panelists discussed everything from philosophical ideas about the world’s responsibility in addressing the AIDS epidemic to theological approaches to nations’ responsibilities to each other. AIDS Awareness, a new student organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the epidemic and providing a forum for students to help deal with the problem, organized the event.
Panel members included professors from various backgrounds ranging from public health, philosophy, biology and theology, as well as the Reverend Edward Burke, who has been living with AIDS for the last 20 years.
Gail Patt, a biology professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, addressed why not everyone dies of the AIDS virus and said world behavioral changes will be the best way to minimize future spread of the epidemic. Patt, who has spent a considerable amount of time in the farming country of Zimbabwe, proposed ‘Darwinian medicine,’ or forced behavioral changes, as a possible solution to the spread of the epidemic.
Application of Darwinian medicine includes discouraging needle sharing, sex with multiple partners and other behaviors that lead to increased risk for the contraction of the AIDS virus, she said. She said doing so limits the virus to its existing holders. The approach needs to be investigated, she said.
‘While this approach is much less romantic or dramatic and harder to do, especially in third-world countries, medicine alone won’t [stop the epidemic] the virus will mutate,’ Patt said. ‘We need to push the change as much on the virus as we do on society.’
School of Theology assistant professor Jensine Andresen introduced a theological perspective on the international responsibility to the control of the epidemic. She said ideas in Buddhism provide a good model to the world.
‘In Buddhism, there’s an idea of interdependence,’ Andresen said. ‘None of us is disconnected from any other of us. If any part of the whole is suffering, the whole is suffering. I encourage you to try to connect with this seemingly insurmountable epidemic.’
Burke elaborated on Andresen’s idea of interpersonal responsibility.
‘I agree that we are all out brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,’ Burke said.
Burke also touched upon the disparities in AIDS treatment, both in the United States and abroad.
‘Anything I need here in Boston I can get free of charge because I have AIDS,’ he said. ‘That’s not to say it’s the same in Ohio, my home, or California, or anywhere else. We are not taking care of our own here.’
Professor David Roochnik, associate professor of philosophy in CAS, delved into the philosophical issues surrounding the epidemic, citing the philosophical idea of ‘distributive justice.’
‘There seems to be massive injustice with the distribution of medical resources and services,’ he said. ‘It just seems basically unfair African people didn’t choose to be African people any more than you or I chose to be American.’
Roochnik also cited utilitarian philosophy last night when he first touched upon what became a common point among the panel members: the importance of international interest in AIDS epidemics in all countries.
‘Perhaps we as Americans should vastly increase our aid, not because we care for the people themselves, but because it’s in our best interest, economically and otherwise,’ said Roochnik.
‘There is a certain kind of moralism in American that could have terrible consequences,’ he said later. ‘Here we have this war on drugs that has been disastrous, and I’m absolutely amazed that we have no needle exchange programs.’
Burke also discussed the encompassing nature of the virus, attempting to break down the stereotypes that surround the disease.
‘It’s a people disease that’s the bottom line,’ he said. ‘AIDS-related deaths in the ages of people 14 to 25 are rising higher than any other age bracket.
‘You can’t think, ‘I’m 19, I’m going to live until I’m 45,” he continued. ‘That’s not necessarily the truth. If you’re using drugs, drinking or having unprotected sex, you’re putting yourself at risk. We need to take ownership of our behaviors.’
School of Public Health professor Sydney Rosen also provided facts surrounding the current state of the AIDS epidemic. She addressed the economic ramifications of the epidemic, focusing mainly on sub-Saharan Africa, where approximately 28,500,000 individuals were sick with the virus as of 2001, according to UNAIDS, an organization devoted to responding to the effects of the AIDS epidemic.
‘The biggest loss of population to the AIDS virus is occurring within the range of 30-to-50-year-olds, an age bracket that is critical to maintaining a productive society and economy,’ she said.
Walton Chiu, a CAS senior and founding member of AIDS Awareness, said the discussion’s purpose was to provide a multi-perspective background on the epidemic.
‘This is a very serious issue that BU students aren’t aware of,’ he said. ‘That’s why I started this group.’
AIDS Awareness is currently working with Universal Trauma Relief, a similar group at MIT. Together, the groups are in the process of petitioning local hospitals to send their extra supplies to clinics in Africa that treat AIDS patients, particularly clinics that do not turn away terminally ill AIDS victims.
‘The goal for the group is not only to raise awareness, but to provide support and to offer opportunities for people to help,’ said Chiu.
