A group of students from the University of Iowa mark World AIDS Day with Iowa City Red Week activities

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On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day, December 1st, Chelsea Higgins hopes to be able to start discussions.

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She is Executive Director of IC Red, a group of students at the University of Iowa planning a week of HIV and AIDS awareness activities.

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"So many people do not know that it's still a problem," she said. "We try to raise awareness, reduce stigma and make the debate less taboo."

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IC Red Week activities include reading the names on the Pentacrest on Nov. 30 – an annual on-campus tradition of reciting the names of people who have died of AIDS – and displaying a quilt sign national commemoration on AIDS. , a handmade tapestry that honors 96,000 people lost from AIDS, in the Old Capitol Museum from November 26 to December 1. Other activities include a fashion show, art exhibitions, a film screening and a panel discussion.

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A UI junior specialist in genetics, biotechnology and music, Higgins first looks at Red Week efforts in her first year of study as she searches for groups of students. Previously, IC Red Week was organized by representatives of several student organizations.

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This year, IC Red is its own group of independent students with about 16 members. This gives the group its own budget and greater capacity to hold events throughout the year, said Higgins, not just the week around World AIDS Day. Earlier this year, for example, the group organized a campus discussion with gay men who experienced the HIV / AIDS epidemic in the United States.

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World AIDS Day, designated for the first time in 1988, was launched at that time. Although treatment options and greater knowledge of the virus have changed the way people have been living with HIV / AIDS since then, Higgins stresses that education remains important.

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HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus – is transmitted by some body fluids, most often sexually transmitted or through syringes, and attacks the body's immune system, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. If it is not treated, HIV can become an AIDS acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

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There is no cure for HIV, but it can be controlled with appropriate medical care. Today, a person diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is too advanced can live as long as someone who does not have the virus, says the CDC.

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The Iowa Department of Public Health reported that in 2017, 2,790 people were living with HIV in Iowa and that 125 Iowas had been diagnosed with HIV in 2017.

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"I really hope we can open new conversations and eliminate taboos so that people can talk freely about their experiences and what it means to be at risk," Higgins said.

Calendar of the week red IC

• Game night and clothing collection for Shelter House from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. November 26, LGBT Resource Center, 125 Grand Ave. Court, Iowa City

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• RED Fashion Show and Phelps Art Show, 5 pm-7pm. November 27, Iowa University's Visual Arts Building, 107 River Street, Iowa City

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• AIDS on the big screen: projection of the "Dallas Buyers Club", from 7.30 pm to 9 pm. Wednesday, Becker Communications Building, 25 S. Madison St., Iowa City

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• Break the stigma debate with Marie Kruger, Hillel Haim, Dena Dillion and Kethryn Edel from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. November 29, Shambaugh Auditorium, main library of the University of Iowa, 125 W. Washington St., Iowa City

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• Reading of names, from 18:45 to 16:40. November 30, University of Iowa Pentacrest, 21 N. Clinton St., Iowa City

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• Associated event: The Mirage, an evening of entertainment, education, free HIV testing and a drag show at 9 pm. November 30, Iowa Memorial Union, 125 N. Madison St., Iowa City

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• Memorial Commemorative AIDS Quilt Sign, November 26-December 1, First Floor Rotunda, Old Capitol Museum, 21 N. Clinton Street, Iowa City

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• Day without art, from noon to 4 pm. December 1, Public Space 1, Wesley Center, 120 N. Dubuque Street, Iowa City

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For more information on Red Week events, visit facebook.com/ICRedWeek.

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l Comments: (319) 398-8339; [email protected]