AIDS awareness lecture tonight

Looking to increase awareness about AIDS, the Student Global AIDS Campaign organization at USF is holding a lecture Wednesday night. Speakers who have been personally and professionally affected by the disease will share their stories in the event, which will be open to the public.

The lecture starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at the Westside Conference Center in the Louis de La Parte Florida Mental Health Institute building in rooms A, B and C.

The Student Global AIDS Campaign is a USF student organization composed of 11 members. The organization works annually to send a message about AIDS awareness to the USF community and beyond, said Joe Riggs, president of the campaign.

“Educating the community increases the awareness and the need to recognize the global effect of this epidemic,” Riggs said.

Riggs said the lecture will also provide information about the disease, which has effected many in Africa.

“People need to realize that what effects Africa, eventually effects (America),” he said. “This is true because (people) live in a global community nowadays.”

The two speakers participating in the event are Agnes Nyamayaro and Dr. Mark Kline.

Nyamayaro, a nurse whose work as an activist in Uganda, has traveled across the United States along with the Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa organization and has been personally affected by the disease.

According to its official Web site, DATA is supported by rock musician Bono, who is an activist in the fight against AIDS.