A sea of white lab coats dotted the plaza in front of the downtown building that houses U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's office as members of the American Medical Student Association ( AMSA ) rallied for global AIDS reform as part of a World AIDS Day effort.
Joined by the Chicago Women's AIDS Project, medical students from Chicago and Wisconsin rallied in a tri-city effort to address the presidential candidates' stance on PEPFAR ( President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ) reform and made three demands. The protest began near Obama's office in the John C. Kluczynski Building and ended in a march towards the Illinois Republican Party offices.
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Medical students protest at the rally. Photo by Amy Wooten
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PEPFAR is President Bush's plan to fight global AIDS, and comes up for reauthorization in 2008. AMSA and the Chicago Women's AIDS Project said that the president's proposal for the next five years is inadequately funded.
First, AMSA wants presidential candidates to commit to PEPFAR reform.
Jing Luo, a second-year medical student and one of the event's organizers, told Windy City Times that it's time for presidential candidates to voice their support for PEPFAR reform. Congress is currently drafting the second version of PEPFAR, which will determine the United States' fight against global AIDS for the next five years.
'We want all presidential candidates to commit to an actual dollar amount,' Luo said.
Second, AMSA has three demands for PEPFAR reform: to commit at least $50 billion over the next five years; to remove PEPFAR's abstinence-until-marriage earmark on prevention funding; and to target $8 billion of PEPFAR funds to address the shortage of healthcare staff in developing countries.
During the event, Catherine Christeller, executive director of Chicago Women's AIDS Project, spoke about how women are increasingly carrying the burden of the AIDS epidemic on their shoulders. Funds are needed for effective prevention practices such as condoms and perinatal testing and treatment, she said. 'Do what works,' Christeller stressed.
'Putting money into global AIDS can turn the tide of terror,' said Test Positive Aware Network's Matt Sharpe during the rally. Sharpe, a 20-year survivor, said it's time presidential candidates, particularly Republicans, 'listen to the majority of Americans' about global AIDS reform.
During the event, a representative of Obama's office spoke on the presidential candidate's behalf, informing the crowd that Obama plans to support AMSA's vision and its goal of increasing PEPFAR to $50 billion.
AMSA rallies also took place in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
