The AIDS Awareness Committee of Boston College would like to recognize the inaccuracy and ignorance inherent in Mary Johnson-Green's letter to the editor ("BC Will Never Allow Condom Distribution," Oct. 29) where she claimed "BC Students for Sexual Health should do something productive, like raise money for anti-viral drugs that can be sent to help HIV patients in Africa."
While we have no affiliation with BC Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH), the AIDS Awareness Committee would like to disagree with Mary's assumption that BCSSH should focus solely on HIV in Africa. This dangerous assumption propagates the myth that STIs and other issues of sexual health are only necessarily discussed in the context of a foreign epidemic and, subsequently, that as privileged American college students, we are immune from the virus.
HIV/AIDS indiscriminately impacts everyone. At least one-half of all new HIV infections are estimated to be among those under the age of 25 (Source: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation), the age of BC students. Additionally, Washington, D.C. has a higher rate of HIV infection than all of West Africa (Source: D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration), further illuminating the irresponsibility of incorrectly asserting that HIV is only an African problem.
To be the most productive, students and alumni of Boston College should focus not just on Africa but on acknowledging and protecting against the risks present in their communities.
AIDS Awareness Committee of Boston College
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