Jack DarcherEvery day worldwide, 8,000 people die from AIDS, and 14,000 people are diagnosed as HIV-Positive. Between 850,000 and 950,000 residents of the United States currently live with AIDS, a quarter of whom are unaware of their illness.
Statistics such as these drive some students to take action toward the education and awareness of the disease, including sophomore Jami Crespo, programming coordinator for the Washington University student group People Organizing Worldwide Education Resource Services (POWERS) for AIDS.
“As a society, we need to come together and give each other support and encouragement, so hopefully, we can find a cure in the future,” said Crespo. “We’re not going to stop until we find a cure for HIV and AIDS.”
POWERS for AIDS is currently gearing up for the annual Worldwide AIDS Day on Dec. 1, an international day of remembrance and education dedicated to the thousands of people who have died from the illness. This year’s memorial will take place locally at Berea Presbyterian Church, 3010 Olive Blvd., from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Various St. Louis AIDS organizations will present HIV and AIDS information.
The contraction and spreading of the illness is one concern that POWERS for AIDS addresses in its educational presentations, both on and off campus.
“The biggest thing we talk about is that HIV can be contracted [through sex] three ways: through vaginal, anal or oral sex,” said Crespo. “A lot of people don’t know that it can be contracted by oral sex. People just don’t believe oral sex is sex. That’s a really scary thought.”
POWERS for AIDS teaches various methods for having safe sex, including the use of the traditional male condom, plus the female condom and dental dam, which is used for oral sex.
Betsy Foy, assistant director, health educator, and relapse prevention specialist at Student Health and Counseling Services, said the high percentages of HIV contraction for the 18 to 24-year-old age group in the United States is due to several high risk factors familiar to students. Though intravenous drug use, needle sharing (for both drugs and tattoos), and having several sexual partners are seen as high risk factors, having unprotected sex is the biggest risk factor, she said.
Student Health and Counseling Services offers both a blood test and an oral test for HIV and AIDS. Both tests are free and confidential. The blood test yields 99.99 percent accuracy, and the oral test yields 99.97 percent accuracy for 95 percent of the students who are tested within three months of the original HIV or AIDS exposure.
The WU Medical Clinic also offers a confidential HIV or AIDS test for $50, producing results within three to five days.
Foy tests approximately 200 students per school year through Student Health Services, generally producing less than one student per year who tests positive for HIV.
But Foy said the small number of students she sees contracting HIV may not be indicative of the WU population. Some students who suspect they may have contracted the disease prefer to be tested at a place that will not use their name on any documents if they are found HIV positive, she said.