March 1, 2011 - 10:12pm
Campus Club: United Against Infectious Diseases
BY CLAIRE GOSCICKI
Correction appended: A previous version of this article misidentified Sonia Gupta's title.
Instead of spending their summers working 9-5 at an internship, members of United Against Infectious Diseases will be travelling to developing countries to provide disease testing and counseling to at-risk individuals.
Founded last semester, the student organization works in certain areas of developing nations to combat diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. This summer, the group’s 40 members will travel to communities in South Africa, Panama and Uganda, among other countries.
LSA junior Eric Stulberg, the awareness and activism coordinator for the University’s UAID chapter, said since the campus chapter is new, members of the group will be going abroad on trips planned by other schools. Other universities with UAID chapters include Brown University, Princeton University and Yale University. The University's group plans to organize its own trips abroad for summer 2012, according to Stulberg.
On the upcoming trips, the students will be immersed in rural environments.
“We’ll be staying in or near the villages and working with local doctors,” he said.
To prepare for their time abroad, club members will fundraise throughout the semester. The group is funded by Global Brigades, but it also relies on local support. With the donations, the group will purchase infectious disease testing kits that provide cheap, effective and quick results. UAID was the first organization to bring these rapid tests into Panama, Stulberg said.
In addition to offering the testing kits, students will provide counseling based on protocol outlined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to UAID founder Sonia Gupta, a senior at Yale University.
“All patients will receive information about the rapid test and give informed consent for testing, and patients who can benefit will also receive prevention counseling,” Gupta wrote in an e-mail interview.
Students will also lead awareness campaigns before offering any testing or counseling services in the areas, Gupta wrote.
Not only does the group work with communities abroad, but UAID members at the University also participate in local programs throughout Washtenaw County, Stulberg said.
“On campus, our goal is to provide volunteer experience to students at local HIV/AIDS clinics or anywhere else related to infectious diseases,” he said.
