Student groups are working to alert the campus to the alarming rates of HIV infection in the black community as part of a national campaign that began last Friday with National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
Volunteers distributed informational pamphlets and condoms at Collis on Friday to passersby, many of whom were apparently unaware of the AIDS epidemic that has come to be the leading cause of death for black males between 25 and 44 years old.
"People don't know that this is a great problem in the black community," Aritetsoma Ukueberuwa '04, leader of the Student Global AIDS Campaign, one of two organizations behind the push to inform the Dartmouth community, said.
Regarded as a risk solely for the gay and white community in the early 1980s, HIV and AIDS infection among blacks has continued to mushroom in past years even as overall rates have leveled off.
Although blacks constitute 12 percent of the total population, they accounted for half of all new HIV cases reported in 2001, according to the Center for Disease Control.
35 percent of all AIDS patients have been African-American, and by the end of 2001 more than 168,000 African-Americans had died from AIDS.
While the national campaign focused on 16 cities where AIDS concerns are most pressing, the Student Global AIDS Campaign and Concerned Black Students, an appendage of the Afro-American Society, will continue to bring the the message to Dartmouth throughout this week.
CBS will hold a discussion on AIDS in the black community on Thursday, and the SGAC will send a pamphlet to all black students on campus by the end of the week.
"AIDS I think in the global community affects the poverty-stricken areas, so students at Dartmouth might feel removed from that," Ukueberuwa said.
Race and ethnicity alone are not risk factors for infection. Rather, social and economic problems besetting the black community are at fault for the abnormally high infection rates.
One in four African-Americans lives in poverty and as a result has limited access to preventive and treatment services.
"I think it's really more of an issue of health care access, issues of health care education," said Biology Prof. Lee Witters, adding that all groups under economic stress are known to have high rates of AIDS and HIV.
A tendency within the black community to not discuss sensitive issues affiliated with HIV transmission, such as homosexuality and drug use, have contributed to higher rates of infections, according to the CDC.
Compared to whites, blacks are 27 times more likely to have gonorrhea and 16 times more likely to have syphilis. Concurrent infection with these STDs can facilitate the transmission of HIV.
Founded by Ukueberuwa and Richard Callahan '03, the Dartmouth chapter of the SGAC will be applying for COSO recognition this term.
Last year, the Tucker Foundation declined to include the SGAC under its umbrella of student groups connected to AIDS awareness and prevention. Tucker groups are more oriented toward hands-on volunteering to help fight AIDS, while the SGAC is more concerned with lobbying politicians for funds to help international causes.
The SGAC will send a group of Dartmouth students to an upcoming SGAC national conference. Aritetsoma said 15 students have asked to attend the conference with the SGAC.
"I've been really encouraged by people wanting to take initiative in the fight against AIDS," said Ukueberuwa.
Aside from Dartmouth, The National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Feb. 7 involved a wealth of projects, highlighted by free HIV testing, youth rallies and prayer services. Rep. Charles Wrangle (D, New York) headlined a press conference to kick off the campaign in New York City.
Annually, AIDS Awareness Week encompasses a series of events where groups inform all students about the disease.
