The development of new medical technologies and prevention efforts are needed to combat the global AIDS epidemic, according to participants in an international videoconference held in the Science Center on Nov. 30. The conference, called “Fighting for What’s Right: Stopping Global HIV/AIDS, was held in conjunction with World AIDS Week.
Five other American institutions also participated in the videoconference: Middlebury College, Indiana University, Rice University, Wenatchee Valley College and the University of Sciences in Philadelphia (USP). Also taking part were activist groups in Papua New Guinea and Vietnam; and two experts on HIV/AIDS, who made the opening presentations.
Dr. Ronald Collman, director for the Penn Center for AIDS Research and speaking from USP, emphasized the need to consider cultural differences in the implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs.
”AIDS is a huge issue in many parts of the developing world, and one of the greatest challenges in fighting the global epidemic is addressing cultural differences,“ he said. ”I may have a very good idea of the medical issues at stake, but that doesn’t necessarily make it easy to treat people.“
Collman also noted the difficulty of producing new drugs to combat the evolving strains of HIV.
”Anti-retrovirals can be effective, but we also need new solutions because the virus can quickly build up resistance,“ he said. ”There is also a tremendous amount of diversity among virus strains, which makes it challenging to develop new treatments. We don’t know exactly what immune system response we want to elicit, and people respond differently to medications.“
The second presenter was László Skefu, advisor to the Minister of Economy and Transport for the Hungarian government, who spoke from campus. Skefu detailed his current work with the U.S.-Hungarian biopharmaceutical company Genetic Immunity on the development of an immunotherapeutic vaccine for people already living with HIV.
”We are working on a simple patch that can be applied to the skin,“ he said. ”The patch lowers the body’s viral load and strengthens regular immune response. The exciting thing about this new technology is that its development time is very short, only three to five years, unlike the five to 10 or more years that it takes to develop prophylaxis. There are also special pediatric versions of the patch, which is a completely new thing.“
After the preliminary remarks, the conference was conducted round-robin style, with each group given a few minutes to initiate discussion and respond to previous questions. Many of the American college students asked the international delegations about the AIDS epidemics in their own countries. The representatives from Papua New Guinea spoke of many peoples’ reluctance to get tested for HIV, as well as problems of marital infidelity.
”In the cultural context of Papua New Guinea, individuals become sexually active at 15 to 16 years old and are then basically seen as married,“ they said. ”But because they are too young to keep up this relationship faithfully, sexual relations occur outside of the marriage and this promotes the spread of HIV.“
A student union representative in Vietnam, speaking through a translator, also commented on the difficulty of promoting safer behavioral practices.
”Like in Papua New Guinea, people in Vietnam are very reluctant to get tested for HIV,“ he said. ”So we focus more on developing user-friendly services to make sure that there is confidentiality when the tests come out. We also organize the distribution of condoms with instructions on how to use them. Instead of making the people come to us, we go to them.“
The videoconference ended with remarks by Lauren Smith ’07, head of Wesleyan’s Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), who emphasized the powerful effects of student advocacy.
”A large amount of AIDS-related research is being done in academic institutions,“ she said. ”Our schools have these missions of public good, and we are their constituents. We shouldn’t focus on what we can do in spite of being young, but because we are young. So keep your eyes open because there are opportunities for students to affect change.“
The videoconference seemed to have been an educational and worthwhile event for all participants.
”It was a unique and meaningful experience and really great to hear from international groups as well,“ said Matthew Danzig ’09.
The conference was organized by the non-partisan organization Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), and mediated by Autumn Barr, the AID director of Campus Programming. Meredith Katz ’07, the student coordinator for the AID faction on campus, said that the group had come across the conference listing on the AID website.
”After we signed up, AID decided to mediate the conference from Wesleyan, since they are based in New Haven,“ she said. ”AID at Wesleyan is a very new group, so we contacted other AID groups for support. It’s really nice to have such a coalition on campus.“
The conference was part of a week’s worth of events based around World AIDS Day, which is Dec. 1. The schedule included art installations, film screenings, informational panels, a vigil and a dance party.
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