Student Advocacy

Students Taking Action on Global AIDS

The Role of Students

Why Health Professional Students Have a Major Role to Play in Fighting Global HIV/AIDS

Health professionals in AIDS-burdened countries are treating HIV/AIDS without the training and essential tools they need to do their jobs: tools like clean gloves and needles, sufficient supplies of condoms, affordable drugs, clean water and electricity. They are often denied decent salaries, and health care for themselves, their families, and their communities.

US health professional students are uniquely qualified to advocate for these life-saving tools and for the fulfillment of fundamental human rights. PHR's medical, nursing and public health students have campaigned to stop brain drain in Africa and to bolster African health systems, improving working conditions for their African colleagues. By educating their schools, communities and policy makers about what works and what it will take to save lives, health professional students are helping to ensure an effective and sustained US response to the AIDS crisis.

The Power of Students

What do all major social movements have in common? From the Civil Rights movement to the fight for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender rights, to banning landmines, to stopping the genocide in Darfur, all of the major movements have relied on the powerful voice of students advocating for change on the front lines.  PHR student chapters have played an instrumental role in recent HIV/AIDS campaigns in particular.