Promoting public health awareness
By Sarah Khan
April 4, 2010 9:48 p.m.
Today through Saturday, UCLA and USC will be holding the second annual Global Health Awareness Week, which aims to educate individuals about the importance of public health issues.
The week is a collaboration between the USC Keck School of Medicine and the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Various lectures, art exhibits and lunches will be held at both campuses.
Topics such as epidemics and the neglect of poverty in urban areas will be highlighted, said Rita Baumgartner, an event coordinator and UCLA medical student.
One exhibit will feature the work of Paul Rockower, a USC graduate student who will be presenting photographs he took while travelling through more than 50 countries.
On Saturday, a performance will be held at the Neuroscience Research Building that will feature interpretations on urban health by dancers, poets and musicians.
“We’re trying to create events that will attract people from many different perspectives within global health,” said Alyssa Scott, co-founder of the awareness week.
This year is the first in which the number of people living in cities surpasses the number in rural areas, Baumgartner said.
Issues such as sanitation, overcrowding and the development of slums arise with the shift of population to a more urban setting, Scott said.
The week’s urban health theme coincides with the World Health Organization’s “1000 Cities, 1000 Lives” campaign. The campaign calls on cities throughout the world to open up their streets to promote activities related to urban health.
The week intends to show people that local health issues in their own communities are being faced in different forms by communities worldwide, said Sire Sow, an art coordinator for Global Health Awareness week and medical student at UCLA.
For instance, HIV positive individuals living in different communities throughout the world will be showing their stories through a photography exhibit on Tuesday titled “Through Positive Eyes.”
“All of these problems are really tied in to a bigger context,” Sow said.
The week also reaches out to local Los Angeles communities such as Skid Row, Baumgartner said. Volunteers will participate in a Skid Row service event on Saturday involving the homeless population of the community.
“(This is) a really concrete way in which we can … physically address some of the problems in globalization and health,” Baumgartner said.
Even if people are inexperienced in public health issues, the events may help others share their knowledge in hopes of tackling global health issues more thoroughly, Baumgartner said.
“Coming with an open mind and open perspective and a willingness to share experiences … is really the key to getting the most out of Global Health Awareness Week,” she said.
With contributing reports from Heidi Redlitz, Bruin contributor. For information on upcoming events, visit www.globalhealthawareness.org.
