This week is World AIDS week. Macalester has hosted several events promoting awareness and solidarity.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is more than a medical issue. Fighting the disease on the ground requires confronting issues of sexual education, gender roles, cultural differences, language barriers, politics, intellectual property rights and religion. Indeed, HIV/AIDS is at the nexus of a great many issues, not the least of which is human rights. Discrimination against those infected with HIV is not prohibited in 40 percent of countries.

HIV is quickly becoming a disease of poverty, as wealthy patients are able to afford treatment and those living in poverty are not. Steps have been taken in recent years to reduce drug costs and make generic drugs available overseas, but more needs to happen in order to ensure universal access to treatment.

As if to add insult to injury, those most at risk for suffering discrimination and violence due to their HIV status are also likely victims of discrimination and violence in general. Women, ethnic minorities, the poor, sex workers, homosexuals and drug users are at greater risk for both infection and discrimination. On an individual level, HIV targets our cellular defenses, leaving us vulnerable to opportunistic infections. On a larger scale, HIV targets those who already have few defenses and little hope of access to treatment.

Marginalization and lost dignity are not simply side effects of HIV/AIDS. Rather, systematic impoverishment and oppression make people more vulnerable to infection. When circumstances make groups or individuals vulnerable to violence or discrimination, they are more likely to be forced to put their health and safety at risk in order to survive. They are more likely to be infected and less likely to have access medical treatment.

Programs that seek to prevent HIV infections through abstinence are a step backward. Over two decades of experience with this disease should have taught us that silencing discussions about sexual practices is not the answer. The worst-case scenario is one in which people feel so stigmatized by their behavior (unprotected sex, prostitution, drug use, etc.) that they are unwilling to get tested for fear of reprisals. In the spirit of respect, we must move forward to secure economic and social rights for disadvantaged groups and individuals. This is our first line of defense against HIV.