TO THE EDITOR:
While I greatly appreciate Eric Rodawig’s praise of Breast Cancer Outreach’s marketing and fundraising strategies (“Diseases Are Scary, But Advocacy Shouldn’t Be,” THE HOYA, Jan. 12, 2007, A3), I was seriously troubled by his reasons for withholding the same flattery from the GU AIDS Coalition and its attempts to educate our campus community about the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.
His suggestion that promoting HIV testing among Georgetown students is a “tremendous waste of time and money” is not only misinformed but also – and more importantly – a perpetuation of the stereotypes that have so greatly contributed to the spread of a disease that has killed 25 million people worldwide.
We can, of course, trace statistical trends along demographic lines to identify a “target market,” as Mr. Rodawig suggests, but such practices are useless, as statistics are not vaccines. None of us are immune to HIV/AIDS – not even a U.S. Senator, as Mr. Rodawig seems to believe – and the GU AIDS Coalition plays an instrumental role in silencing that dangerous belief here on the Hilltop.
AIDS is not a gay disease, nor an African disease, nor a poor disease; it is a virus that is contracted and spread across class, racial and gender lines. By implying otherwise, Mr. Rodawig puts himself – and all of us – at risk.
Chrissy A. Balz (COL ’07)
Former President, Breast Cancer Outreach
Member, GU AIDS Coalition
Jan. 17, 2006
TO THE EDITOR:
With regard to Eric Rodawig’s column “Diseases Are Scary, But Advocacy Shouldn’t Be” (THE HOYA, Friday, Jan. 12, 2007, A3), I would agree that the message used by AIDS advocacy groups could be more appealing. But I must disagree most emphatically with his insinuation that HIV testing is only beneficial when done in targeted populations.
The implication that a heterosexual who doesn’t use intravenous drugs is not at risk for infection is ludicrous, and also a major reason this virus continues to spread. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2005, about 12,100 people in the United States were infected with HIV through heterosexual sex – 31 percent of all new HIV cases (and 80 percent of new HIV infections in women).
Over a quarter of people living with HIV don’t know they have it.
Everyone – including Mr. Rodawig -, should get tested for HIV. It is the only way someone who has ever been in a sexual relationship can ever be 100 percent sure that he or she does not have a sexually-transmitted disease, and it is the best way to reduce the transmission of this terrible disease.
Ryan Shanahan (MED ’09)
Jan 12, 2007
