Arizona-Based Initiative Uses Partnerships in India to Educate Children About HIV/AIDS

The Arizona Republic on Saturday examined the Phoenix-based International Alliance for the Prevention of AIDS, an initiative led by local college students and students in India that has provided HIV/AIDS education to more than 10,000 children in southern India over the past five years. The alliance has an annual budget of $48,000, and its work is conducted almost exclusively by college students from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, along with students in India. Executive Director Sanjay Sinha -- a medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health -- founded the group with Eric Hamm, the group's financial director. Sinha said that there is "a huge pool of resources in students. They have time (during school breaks) and they're extremely passionate about these issues."

According to the Republic, about 20 students from Arizona participate in HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Chennai, India, for eight weeks each summer with the help of local students and community organizations who continue the programs throughout the year. Sinha said, "The idea is to take the best of students here and the best of students in India, train both groups in HIV prevention and then team them up to go out and teach." The Republic reports that alliance volunteers are recruited in the fall and later trained at the University of Arizona or Arizona State University until they travel to India, where they receive additional training (Midey, Arizona Republic, 4/18).

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