Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The Associated Press - 5 Jul 95
Helms, who has often spoken of his disgust for homosexuals, spoke to the Times as the Senate considers whether to renew a federal program for the care and treatment of AIDS patients.
"We've got to have some common sense about a disease transmitted by people deliberately engaging in unnatural acts," Helms told the Times.
The Republican from North Carolina argued that AIDS gets a disproportionately large amount of funding for medical research despite being only the ninth-leading cause of death in the United States.
Actually, Public Health Services statistics show that heart disease receives the most federal funding, at $36.3 billion annually, followed by cancer, $16.9 billion, and AIDS at $6 billion, the Times said.
Furthermore, AIDS is the leading cause of death among both men and women from 24 to 44, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Times said.
The $880 million Ryan White Care Act of 1990, named for an Indiana teen-ager who died after contracting AIDS through a blood transfusion, expires at the end of September.
A reauthorization bill has yet to reach the Senate floor, and in the House, the measure is stalled in committee. Helms denies he has tried to stop the bill.
"I'm going to try to get some equity for people who have had heart trouble," said the senator, who underwent open heart surgery in 1992.
Copyright 1995/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1995 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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