Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; Friday June 3, 1988
Retired Navy Adm. James Watkins included nearly 600 recommendations in a 269-page draft report to be considered by the full 13-member commission, but he told reporters the one on antidiscrimination overshadows all the rest.
"The foremost obstacle to progress raised was the discrimination faced by those with HIV," he said, referring to the virus that causes AIDS. "It was made clear to us that if the nation does not address this issue squarely, it will be very difficult to solve most other HIV-related problems."
Watkins' call for strong federal antidiscrimination laws for people with the AIDS virus runs counter to official Reagan administration policy opposing such a federal standard. It came one day after the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine made a similar plea.
The commission chairman acknowledged the opposition, but said "times change" and expressed hope the commission's stance would help overcome such opposition.
He said discrimination against people with the virus is "rampant" and the problem is both "actual discrimination and fear of discrimination."
Eliminating discrimination, he said, "is the key to fighting the epidemic."
Watkins said he is confident the full commission will embrace most of his recommendations. If there are differences, he said, he would prefer to see them expressed in minority reports rather than watering down the main report. The commission accepted Watkins' recommendations with no substantive changes for an earlier, interim report sent to the White House. The final report is due at the White House June 24 and the panel will hold public meetings on it next week.
Watkins told reporters that his final recommendations, including one to spend an additional $1.5 billion a year for drug treatment programs, would cost about $3 billion a year over and above current spending on AIDS.
That would break down to about two-thirds federal money and one-third state and local money, and include roughly $500 million in additional funds for AIDS education programs.
The admiral told reporters the one exception to anticipated consensus on his recommendations might involve his call for legislation to give the surgeon general sweeping new powers to deal with national health emergencies proclaimed by the president.
Watkins said that was his personal recommendation, reached without commission hearings or consultations with other members.
Among other major Watkins recommendations: - Strong new laws on confidentiality, with sanctions, to protect the identity of those who test positive for the AIDS virus.
- Greater support for innovative methods of financing care for people with AIDS.
- Establishment of effective state partner-notification programs to alert those who had sex with someone known by health authorities to carry the virus.
- Viewing the scope of the epidemic in terms of the number of people infected with the virus-perhaps as many as 1.4 million Americans-rather than the number actually suffering from AIDS, less than 70,000.
- Implementation of a comprehensive health education curriculum in American schools.
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