Protesters hit campus, University City
Healthcare issues find the forefront at protests
Janhavi Purohit, Josh Kurtz, Aditi Dubey
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: Debate Day
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Beginning at 34 and Market streets and ending at Chestnut Street in front of Drexel University's Main Building, the Halloween-themed protest called on candidates to support guaranteed healthcare and funding for global HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The march was sponsored by ACT UP Philadelphia, a non-partisan program dedicated to ending the AIDS crisis.
A coalition of groups was involved with the march.
ACT UP Philadelphia was in the forefront, along with ACT UP New York and Asbury, the American Medical Student Association, Health GAP and the Student Global AIDS Campaign and others. Protesters generally consisted of representatives for people living with HIV, students, healthcare providers and underprivileged American citizens.
AMSA's Drexel Chapter President Shazia Mehmood, a pre-med senior majoring in political science said one of the other goals of this protest was to raise awareness of health disparities in
some ethnic communities. The protest started with a small gathering, where the Trick or Treatment theme was used in light of Halloween and the some participants dressed up as zombies for the event. As the evening progressed, the protestors from the D.C and New York chapters of AMSA gathered in the city and walked down to the Main Building, chanting their slogans.
"There is going to be about a hundred medical students here today, along with some folks living with AIDS, to talk to the candidates about how their health care plans need to improve," Dan Murphy, legislative director for AMSA said. "Everyone in the US needs to be fully insured and the democrats have some solutions but we don't think they are detailed enough."
"Right now, they are not really committing enough money and enough details to show that they're party of the people," Murphy said.
The protest centered on getting guaranteed healthcare for all underprivileged citizens, passing legislation for $50 billion in funding over five years to fight global AIDS, constructing HIV prevention policies and, according to a press advisory, ending "racial disparities" in HIV/AIDS and other health conditions. Protesters argued that the Democratic candidates in the current election were neglecting a variety of local issues that have national implications.
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