“The global AIDS epidemic continues to grow and there is concerning evidence that some countries are seeing a resurgence in new HIV infection rates,” states the 2006 annual report of UNAIDS, the United Nations program dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.
Many believe that AIDS is an epidemic on the decline, but figures recently published in the UNAIDS/WHO 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update state otherwise.
According to UNAIDS in 2006, 39.5 million people are living with HIV. This is an increase of 2.6 million people from 2004. The number of new infections rose to 4.3 million in 2006.
The number of people living with HIV has increased in every region of the world in the past two years. More adult women are living with HIV than ever before.
This is only the beginning.
Spreading more information about AIDS and HIV will be the subject of several programs on campus today and Friday. The programs are in honor of World AIDS Day, which is Friday. Most of the events are orchestrated by social work students studying macro-advocacy.
“We wanted to make World Aids Day successful on campus. It started with an art contest, and became something much bigger,” said social work student Carilyn Patrick.
Tonight, Duane Quintana, representing Hope’s Voice, will speak in the Martha Street Culp Auditorium in the D.P. Culp Center at 7 p.m. Quintana was diagnosed with HIV two years after graduating from high school. His life and career are now dedicated to educating young people about the disease.
Quintana is the founder and executive director of Allies Linked for the Prevention of HIV and AIDS located in downtown Boise, Idaho. He has also developed a Web site (www.imjustmejustlikeyou.com) to provide support and resources for those affected by sexual health issues and HIV.
For more information on Hope’s Voice visit www.hopesvoice.com.
The second speaker is Randy Wykoff, dean of ETSU’s College of Public and Allied Health. Wykoff’s speech is entitled “Societal Breakdown and the Brain Drain: the Global Impact of AIDS.”
“I’m going to give an assessment of what the epidemic is and will be,” Wykoff said. “I think people will be a little bit surprised that the epidemic is still growing in all parts of the world.”
The speech will take place Friday from noon to 1 p.m. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. The speech will be held in the large auditorium in Stanton-Gerber Hall on the V.A. Medical Center Campus.
The film “A Closer Walk” will be shown at 7 p.m. on Friday in the small auditorium in Stanton-Gerber Hall on the V.A. Medical Center campus. The producers of “A Closer Walk” claim that it, “is not just a movie, it’s a movement.”
A Closer Walk’s goal is to increase awareness about AIDS worldwide, as well as show the ties between AIDS and the impoverished and disadvantaged people of the world. Filmmaker Robert Bilheimer travels all over the world to film the effect of AIDS, and interviews figures like U2’s Bono and the Dalai Lama.
For more information about the film, visit www.acloserwalk.org.
These events are sponsored by the Global Health Interest Group, the Quillen College of Medicine Office of Student Affairs, the ETSU Department of Public and Allied Health, the Student Government Association, Volunteer ETSU, Black Affairs Association, Office of Multicultural Affairs, departments of Social Work and Health Sciences, Buctainment, Alpha Delta Pi sorority and Kappa Sigma fraternity at ETSU.
Also on Friday, entries from a campuswide art contest will be displayed in the D.P. Culp Center from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Judging will end today at 3 p.m. with ribbons displayed at that time. The art will be displayed in Alumni Hall on the first floor. Thirty-eight pieces of art were entered from a variety of mediums. The first place prize is $500.
“I wish that we could have more than one first place, because a lot of the pieces of art are just exceptional,” Patrick said. She is among the students coordinating the World Aids Day program.
Booths will be set up on all three floors of the D.P. Culp Center to provide information and red ribbons for students. Confidential HIV testing will also be available on the first floor.
For more information on campuswide events call the social work department at 439-6006, Sarah Winters with the HIV/AIDS Center of Excellence at 439-8106 or student coordinator Carilyn Patrick at 552-1709.

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