The ISU Global Health and AIDS Coalition will be hosting its second annual World AIDS Awareness Week to spread awareness about AIDS on the global level.

The AIDS Coalition focuses on awareness and advocacy for global health policies at the national level. The organization advocates heavily on behalf of the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief and global funding to fight aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

“We have a group that focuses on awareness. We have events all throughout the week to promote student experiences of observing these global health disparities abroad or domestically, and we try to discuss about it,” said Deepak Premkumar, senior in economics and president and founder of the AIDS Coalition. “Another branch of ISU GHAC is advocacy. We have the passion. We’ve even instilled some awareness.”

Starting off World AIDS Awareness Week, which runs from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6, on Monday, the ISU GHAC will be setting up tables around campus where they plan to promote awareness and will be handing out little red ribbons to students to support their cause.

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, Mead Over, a former World Bank economist who focuses on the economic impact of AIDS, will be speaking at the lecture

“The Global Struggle against AIDS: The U.S. Role & Prospects for Sustainability.” The lecture will be at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Blood Brother, a documentary about a college student named Rocky Braat, will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, in the South Ballroom of the Memorial Union.

The documentary shares a story about a boy who takes a spontaneous trip to India and meets a group of orphaned children at an AIDS hostel. He then devotes himself to the well-being of the children.

“When you go around and travel and see these great injustices, it’s hard to just walk away. And now students like myself can sort of find a facet in which they can directly make changes and really translate what they’ve seen around the world that they don’t feel comfortable with into a manner of creating a concrete difference in the world,” Premkumar said.

Ken Patterson, a Global Grassroots Manager of RESULTS, will be speaking at the lecture “How Local Organizing Can End Global AIDS and Malnutrition.” The lecture will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, in the Cardinal Room of the Memorial Union. RESULTS is an organization that strives to create long-term solutions to poverty. Some of the root causes include lack of access to medical care, education and job advancement opportunities.

“I’ve had the chance to travel and see the health disparities in other countries and it really inspired me to do something,” said Lea Hoefer, senior in global resource systems and awareness director for the AIDS Coalition.

“I think students should get involved because even though we don’t always see it in Iowa, this is an issue that has literally changed the face of the world that we know. How we respond to it will change the face of our future and health.”

Ella Gahrke, freshman in global resource systems and public relations director for the AIDS Coalition, said she enjoys the organization because she gets to voice her opinion and help volunteer.

“We focus on global health and everyone should care about it because it affects our lives. It’s a great opportunity to meet great people who care about our world,” Gahrke said.