News Register, 30 June 2014

July is AIDS Awareness Month and North Lake College is doing its part to help spread knowledge and awareness about the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in every 500 college students is infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HIV.

If those statistics hold true, that would mean 24 out of the 12,000 or so students attending North Lake College has contracted HIV.

"College students are a demographic where the choices they make can possibly put their health at risk," said Linda Skidmore, registered nurse at North Lake College who helped treat the first AIDS patient at Parkland Hospital in the 1980s. "People often acquire HIV or AIDS because of risky behavior such as having unprotected sex, doing certain drugs or not getting tested for any sexually transmitted disease after having sex with a new partner. Things that some college students do."

Other factors contributing to infection listed by various AIDS awareness websites and pamphlets include peer pressure, lack of maturity, alcohol usage and abandoning safe sex methods.

In 2010, new HIV infections were estimated to be highest in the 25-34 age group, which hits close to home, as the average age of an NLC student is 27. In order to promote awareness, NLC has partnered with various organizations throughout the Metroplex to offer free services.

HIV/AIDS testing is offered every two to three weeks at NLC, courtesy of either UT Southwestern Medical Center or AIDS Arms, Inc., a Dallas organization specifically dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS and helping those who have it.

As well as testing, counseling is offered by AIDS Arms. The sessions are free to everyone who gets tested. Counseling is geared to help ensure those who are not infected remain that way and to help those who have it and how to live with it.

Certain faculty members have gotten involved by bringing their classes to get tested. Human sexuality and psychology professor Rebecca Escoto brought two of her classes to get tested and to learn about the severe dangers of HIV, something Skidmore sees as an often overlooked element of HIV.

"Rather than just informing students of HIV there needs to be an emphasis of the consequences having HIV can bring," said Skidmore. "Many college students don't believe they are at risk of getting a disease of any kind, but everyone can be at risk."

Her statement is backed up by StateUniversity.com that says 75-85 percent of heterosexual students do not feel at risk for HIV.

Presently, more than 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV, 24 percent of them are women according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The CDC says that nearly one in every six people with HIV is unaware they have contracted as a result of not being tested or due to symptoms that take months and even years to appear. They also state that 50,000 new cases of HIV infections are discovered annually.

The next free HIV/AIDS tests at North Lake will be July 22, Sept. 3 and Sept. 17. For more information about HIV/AIDS or to seek help on campus, visit Counseling Services in A-311 or the Health Center in C-200.

By Grant V. Ziegler; Editor-in-Chief

Source: News Register