Chicago Tribune (CT) - FRIDAY June 3, 1988 Edition: SPORTS FINAL Section: NEWS Page: 1 Word Count: 710
Jon Van, Chicago Tribune

The current draft of the report, which will be submitted to the White House by June 24 after final action by the full commission, is "a centrist report that avoids extremes," said retired Navy Adm. James Watkins, chairman of the panel.

A majority of the 580 recommendations and much of the emphasis of Watkins' findings echo a report issued Wednesday by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Both call for recognizing that people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes AIDS, should be the focus of concern and care, even if they don't display symptoms and haven't progressed to full-scale AIDS.

The moderate tone of the report by Watkins, who said his proposals represented "my estimate of consensus within the commission," surprised some AIDS activists who had criticized the makeup of the panel when it was appointed by President Reagan last year.

Neither a lack of expertise nor ideological stances were evident in the draft, said Dr. Mathilde Krim, founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research in New York City.

"Semen, blood and ignorance surround this epidemic," Watkins said at a press conference, "and we were in that last category" when the commission began its work a year ago. It has since heard testimony from more than 550 witnesses.

Only the last chapter of the report, which recommends new laws to give the surgeon general broad powers to bypass existing bureaucracies to fight AIDS and future public health emergencies, remains to be debated by commissioners, the commission chairman said.

"The foremost obstacle to progress raised was the discrimination faced by those with HIV," Watkins said. Such discrimination "is the rule, not the exception."

"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. People simply will not come forward to be tested, or will not supply names of sexual contacts for notification, if they feel they will lose their jobs and homes based on an HIV-positive test.

"So, once those with HIV are treated like anyone else with a disability, then we will find that what is best for the individual is also best for the public health."

Mandatory testing for HIV infection is included in the recommendations, but only under very limited circumstances, such as to protect the well-being of people who render health care.

Watkins said that if a paramedic cuts himself while removing a person from a wrecked auto and the two mix blood in the process, the paramedic has a right to know if the patient is HIV-positive.

Other proposed exceptions to a voluntary, confidential approach to HIV testing include victims of sexual assault, sexual partners of HIV-positive people who refuse to give information voluntarily and specific instances where there is a life-saving reason to provide information.

The report, which calls for the government to spend about $3 billion a year on AIDS, endorses a national health education program in all public schools that would teach children-from preschool on-about AIDS and other health issues from drug abuse to nutrition.

Groups involved in the fight against AIDS praised the report.

"The commission's report is courageous, aggressive and compassionate," said Tim Sweeney, deputy executive director for policy of the New York City- based Gay Men's Health Crisis, a clearinghouse on AIDS.

"We challenge the President, Congress and presidential candidates to respond to this report by implementing its recommendations," Sweeney said. The American Public Health Association, a private organization of health professionals, lauded the report "as an aggressive first step towards developing an integrated national strategy to deal with the AIDS epidemic."

CAPTION: Photo: A billboard in Chicago, the first of 139, promotes the Illinois AIDS hot line number. The Department of Public Health is erecting the signs in conjunction with a federal mailing of brochures on AIDS. The statewide campaign was aided by donations from nine billboard companies. Tribune photo by Greg Tucker. Photo: James Watkins, chairman of presidential AIDS commission. AP Laserphoto.

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