Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1983. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - August 18, 1983
Mrs. Heckler said she would press for Congressional approval to switch $22 million in funds earmarked for the Rural Development Loan Fund and department requests for new furniture and construction to AIDS research.
The Secretary appeared with Mayor Koch at the bedside of Peter Justice, a 40-year-old AIDS patient in the Cabrini Medical Center at 227 East 19th Street. She said she was asking for twice the amount originally requested for AIDS research at the request of researchers trying to find the cause and a possible cure for the syndrome, which is ultimately fatal for most of its victims.
"The person with AIDS is bearing a very heavy burden," Secretary Heckler said later in an interview. "We ought to be comforting the sick rather than inflicting them and making them a class of outcasts."
She denied that the new funds were in any way a response by the Reagan Administration to criticism that the Government should be spending more to fight AIDS. The funds, she said, were a response to what researchers believed they could spend effectively.
'I'm Delighted She Cares'
Mrs. Heckler also shook Mr. Justice's hand, saying she wanted to demonstrate that public fear of contracting AIDS by such an encounter was unjustified. "The fear of the disaease is spreading faster than disease," she said.
"I'm delighted she's here, I'm delighted she cares," Mr. Justice said.
Thus far, the disease has stricken nearly 2,000 people, nearly half of them in New York City. The syndrome, which has no known cause or cure, destroys the body's immune system and leaves its victims prey to various types of diseases Most of the victims are homosexuals or intravenous drug users.
On Aug. 5, Governor Cuomo approved legislation appropriating $5.3 million for AIDS research in New York State and expressed hope that the Federal Government would increase its financial commitment, too.
Apppearing at a news conference beside by Mr. Koch, Mrs. Heckler insisted that AIDS research was the "top priority" of her department and praised the various Federal health and research agencies that were fighting the disease.
Even the Mayor, a strong advocate for additional AIDS research, conceded that some delay was inevitable. "Obviously, if you could get everybody to concentrate on the first day of an emergency, you wouldn't have any emergencies," he said.
Representative Ted Weiss, a Manhattan Democrat whose Congressional district includes a large number of AIDS victims, said in a statement: "While I would have liked this action sooner, I am glad that the Administration has reversed it earlier position."
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