Panelists promote HIV testing, communication with family to defend against virus

By: Rie Nakanishi

Posted: 12/3/08

More people turned out to the second day of the three-day World AIDS Day event than the first, as approximately 30 people gathered for the panel in which speakers discussed the importance of breaking down the communication barrier for AIDS issues.

In a Q-and-A style panel, Stephanie Bowens, the event organizer and a peer health educator in sexual and gender health, questioned the panelists about AIDS issues among the younger generation.

The three speakers on the panel were Melinda Chu-Yang, the wellness and health promotion coordinator from the SJSU Student Health Center, Vanae Tran, founder of Rock Your Awareness and an SJSU alumna, and James Smith, a representative from the Health Trust.

Rock Your Awareness is a nonprofit organization that reaches out to young people to raise awareness of AIDS and sexual health and empower them to take action.

The Heath Trust is a Silicon Valley-based organization that provides resources and support for HIV and AIDS patients.

Some panelists weren't able to attend because of their health condition.

"I really wanted to bring people from outside the campus so that (students) can see how (AIDS) would affect them in the real world," Bowens said. "The panel was successful. I really liked how (the panelists) emphasized communication."

The three topics the panel addressed were: how to stop the increase in rates of HIV infections among young people in America; the cultural awareness difference in AIDS and sexually transmitted infections between minority groups; and behavior guidelines for young people to protect themselves.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 1.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States as of the end of 2003, and 15 percent of them are young people between 13 and 24 years old.

Chu-Yang said the high rate of infection among the younger generation results from a lack of communication.

"People aren't talking about testing and are not talking to their partners because they are embarrassed and scared to talk to each other," Chu-Yang said. "We need to really focus on communicating with each other and understand each other."

Tran, a Vietnamese-American, shared her experience of how topics such as AIDS, sex and sexuality were taboo growing up in her native culture.

She said she couldn't talk to her parents, teachers or friends about sexual health when she first became sexually active. She said she researched and learned about it on her own.

Tran said becoming open to one's parents and being able to talk to them about sex-related topics is a process.

She recommended that students talk to their parents by asking them about their dating scene and experience.

Melissa Wang, an open university student in the health science department and peer health education volunteer, said young people think that AIDS has nothing do with their lives.

"(Students) don't think they'll be affected by AIDS," she said. "It's always something other people have or whatever, so they might not take the precaution to protect themselves."

Wang said she has been getting tested for HIV since she was 19 years old.

If students are sexually active, whether or not they are in a relationship, getting tested can help people "know where both of you stand," she said.

All of the panelists emphasized the importance of breaking down the walls of communication and stressed the importance of getting tested for HIV.

"If you are sexually active, every six months, get tested," said Smith, from the Health Trust. "Not only you are saving yourself, you could be saving some one you are with."

As an HIV-positive individual, he said he doesn't want anybody else to go through what he has gone through, having had to hear his diagnosis alone and tell his parents that he's HIV positive.

"I have to live each day knowing that I have a disease that, as of today, is not curable but manageable," Smith said. "(HIV/AIDS) happens to anyone, any place, any religion … You never want to go through that - I can't express that enough."

Viet Pham, a senior justice studies major, said he came to the panel because he became interested in AIDS awareness after taking a health class.

"What (the panelists) are trying to do is tell people to bring down the barriers," he said. "It's very understandable if you don't know what you got."

Although Pham said he has never been tested before, he realized how important it is to be educated about getting tested.

"Just go get tested. It's not going to hurt you," he said. "It just helps you. That's what it is."

The panelists said that if students are scared to go through testing alone, they encourage them to get tested with their friends or partners.

The Student Health Center offers free HIV testing for students.