Acquire Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS, is a disease that is acquired because it is not an infection that is inherited. Helen Epstein is a very powerful individual when it comes to advocating, educating, and promoting public health awareness. Epstein doesn’t just have a familiar background with the United States, but also focuses and has experiences with other countries as well.

Just like Hallward, Epstein wants to create a public health intervention. They both share stories and experiences they’ve encountered to open doors for people to help start a conversation to help promote social change. Like Epstein says, “Listening to and understanding the traditions and customs of individual cultures might lead to more successful approaches to the AIDS epidemic” (Epstein 109).  This quote supports Hallward and Epstein’s claim of wanting to help create change. Epstein works mainly with the rapid AIDS break out in South Africa. The average age at which young South Africans lose their virginity is around seventeen, exactly the same as the United States. The crime rate is one of the highest in South Africa, and unemployment exceeds seventy percent.

So, what was done to raise awareness in this country? A program called loveLife was created, it’s goal was to get young people talking to each other and their parents. “What we want to do is create a substantive, normative shift in the way young people behave” stated the loveLife director. LoveLife focused more on education, developing a healthy lifestyle, and understanding safe behaviors rather than just AIDS education. “We know that if we just came out and starting lecturing them about AIDS, they wouldn’t listen. They would just turn off. So, we talk about the positive things, like making informed choices, sharing responsibility, and positive sexuality” (Epstein 114). This went over very well because it was a very positive, persuasive campaign that kids were attracted too. Lovelife also established recreation centers. They were called Y-Centers. Similar to us in the United States, we have recreation centers called the YMCA, which serve the exact same purpose for young adults.

Epstein is a very smart woman who wants to help raise the awareness of AIDS in addition to help bettering other countries and people of other races and ethnicity.