Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald; Monday, September 30, 1991
Herald Staff
Well, the commission, appointed two years ago by President Bush and Congress to recommend action, now is raising a justified outcry. Even with swift, coordinated action, the commission predicts, the number of people dying from AIDS will more than double during the next two years.
Already more Americans have died from AIDS than died in the Korean and Vietnam Wars combined. The victims are not only gay and bisexual men and intravenous drug users. Increasingly, they're heterosexual teens, young mothers, and babies.
White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater points out that the Government already has spent $17 billion on AIDS, $4 billion this year. Without question, that's a significant monetary investment.
Yet Americans haven't made the same human investment. It is still difficult for some of us to look AIDS squarely in the face. For some, AIDS is a moral issue that affects only those straying outside behavioral norm. But try telling that to Kimberly Bergalis or to Ryan White's mother.
As the commission correctly pointed out, AIDS is a disease, not a moral issue. The nation, starting with President Bush, needs to remove the stigma that makes some inclined to avert their eyes and others, AIDS victims or HIV carriers, try to hide their scars. It is becoming obvious -- with the steady spread of the disease into heterosexual and previously low-risk groups -- that ignorance and intolerance are perfect cultures for this virus's growth.
A thoughtful, national plan for containing this deadly disease is urgently needed. As the commission urged, the strategy should include trying to prevent new infections, to treat those who get infected, and to provide compassionate, cost-effective treatment for those already infected. And it should not take another decade to implement.
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