The Harvard AIDS Coalition kicked off its annual AIDS Week last night with a panel of speakers who urged students to take advantage of the many opportunities for involvement in the fight against the growing pandemic.

The week features five events over the next four days, including a candlelight vigil, teach-in, barbecue and several discussions aimed at increasing awareness and promoting action.

“With the gravity of the situation, there’s a lot of room for people to become involved, engaged and aware,” said HAC AIDS Week Chair Beth G. McCarthy ’05. “As much as it is a sad thing, it’s a time of hope.”

Members of last night’s discussion stressed the value of action over simple awareness of the disease, which has killed a total of 21.8 million people, according to the United Nations.

“There is such a gap between information and action, and information without action is a form of misuse of power,” said Northeastern University Professor Brook K. Baker, a panelist and member of HealthGap, an AIDS advocacy group. “We need to put some collective weight on the levers of power.”

Speakers exhorted students to help advocate preventative measures and pressure the government to provide money for treatments and programs.

Panel speaker Suzi Peel emphasized types of activism in addition to those directly aimed at treatment.

“We cannot cure or eradicate AIDS, but a lot of work can be done under palliative care,” Peel said. “We can help victims plan for their children and their aging parents. Very often we see communities coming together to fill in the gaps left by death.”

Ben M. Wikler ’03, founder of Student Global AIDS Campaign, the national organization of which HAC is a part, said that immediate action could stop the exponential spread of AIDS in countries where infection rates are still around 5 percent, such as China and India, said

“The dawning epidemics in China and India can still be prevented from exploding into the general population,” Wikler said. “It’s imperative to mount a massive preventative campaign.”

Last week, Microsoft Chair William H. Gates III, a member of the Class of 1977, drew headlines when he pledged $100 million from his foundation to fight AIDS in India.

Yesterday’s panel also included participants speaking about their personal experiences growing up in Africa amidst the pandemic.

“AIDS is a part of our lives–I can’t remember a time when AIDS was not an issue,” said Kudzai A. Makomva ’06. “Mine is a generation growing up without parents to look after them.”

Although broad educational initiatives have improved awareness of the disease in her home country of Zimbabwe, society is still far from dealing with the situation effectively, she said.

“At first health authorities tried to deny the presence of AIDS in Zimbabwe,” Makomva said. “HIV/AIDS remains highly stigmatized. Some people still refuse to use the word ‘AIDS.’ ”

Fletcher Matandika, founder and director of Ministries of Hope, a program in Malawi which provides food, medical care and emotional support for AIDS orphans, echoed the intense need for activism.

“AIDS is breaking the fabric of the area, it’s tearing apart society,” he said.

The panel was one of three events yesterday that kicked off AIDS Week. Alex de Waal, an adviser to the U.N. Commission for Africa, gave a speech on the effect of HIV/AIDS on humanitarian efforts in Africa, and the founder of an AIDS orphanage in Africa spoke about HIV orphans.

“We want to focus on mobilizing student to see how the world really is, and realize that we have the power to change it,” HAC President Yi-An Huang ’05 said. “Students [need] to look beyond the idea that we have to go to college, get a position, and then have an effect.”

“There are so many facets to this discussion and how pervasive the issue is, that we cannot focus on one issue,” McCarthy said. “We’re looking at preventative measures, advocacy, service, and how to pressure the government to give money for treatments and programs.”

The week will close with a barbecue at Quincy House on Friday evening, featuring booths sponsored by a number of student groups, who will discuss the impact of AIDS outside Africa, Huang said.

In addition to discussions and lectures, HAC will also hold a call-in campaign every day this week to spur action on an AIDS relief bill currently before the House International Relations Committee.

“We are doing a call-in to Congressman [Henry J.] Hyde (R-Ill.) because right now there is a big AIDS bill, the most comprehensive bill ever, stuck in the House committee,” Huang said. “If it doesn’t get out by the New Year, it’s probably just going to die.”

This year marks Harvard’s third annual AIDS Week, and is part of events at colleges around the country. Events this week will also include daily free HIV testing and an AIDS art display in Loker Commons.