Boston University’s School of Public Health is deeply involved in AIDS relief efforts in the African country of Lesotho, which has been hit hard by the epidemic, SPH professor William Bicknell said Tuesday in the African American Studies Center.
Twenty-five BU students, professors and community members attended the lecture, entitled “After AIDS – a Message of Difficult Hope: A Case Study from Lesotho.” Bicknell said BU has become involved in a 10- to 20-year economic commitment to Lesotho, helping to educate citizens and preserve human life in a country that sees 51 percent of its female population infected with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
“We want to work on creating AIDS activists with a focus,” he said. “The question is, can the country be in good shape after the epidemic is over because the people in Lesotho are educated and trained to better use their resources?”
Bicknell predicted that the problem of AIDS worldwide will follow the natural path of most epidemics and eventually die out. But Lesotho, which has a population of 1.8 million people, is currently at the peak of the epidemic cycle, he said. AIDS patients take up 50 to 80 percent of the beds in the country’s national hospitals, he said.
“We know enough,” he said. “There is no need for more study, for more information. We have to take action and preserve lives.”
Bicknell said he is optimistic about the current situation in Lesotho and said BU’s partnership with the country will set an example for future relief work.
“If you get crime down in Boston, that’s fantastic,” he said. “Maybe they can learn from that in Cincinnati, or other cities. Maybe you can’t, but there’s always that hope that you can.”
Bicknell also showed a series of photographs of families in Lesotho that have been devastated by AIDS. He then showed a photograph of his own family, including his wife, children and grandchild.
“Why can’t there be moms, dads, kids and grandkids in the [first] picture?” He asked. “Does it have to be different here than there? I don’t think so.”
Several students, including College of Arts and Sciences senior Kate Thomas, said they enjoyed the lecture.
“Dr. Bicknell’s experience gives him credibility, and his unconventional nature is refreshing,” she said. “In that sense, it’s extremely proactive. He doesn’t care about political correctness.”
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