SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (SF) - THURSDAY November 3, 1988 Edition: FINAL Section: NEWS Page: A20 Word Count: 690
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

Proposition 102, the California ballot initiative, would require doctors, hospitals and clinics to report the names of all people whom they "reasonably believe" to be infected with the AIDS virus and to report the names of everyone who tests positive for infection.

As polls throughout California continue to show a narrow majority of voters favoring the proposition, the health officials insisted that only complete confidentiality, as current state law requires, will keep people coming to the clinics, where they now receive the AIDS antibody tests anonymously.

Shunning the tests for fear of loss of privacy, health experts warn, can only mean that many people who are unknowingly infected will infect others and spread the epidemic.

KOOP SPOKESMAN

From Washington, James Brown, chief spokesman for Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, insisted that although Koop has never commented directly on any state law or ballot proposition relating to AIDS, he strongly opposes attempts to limit the confidentiality of AIDS test results.

"Those of us in public health believe that the assurance of total confidentiality is the key to having potential - and actual - carriers of the AIDS virus present themselves for voluntary testing and counseling," Koop said in statements.

If reporting is mandatory, Koop has warned, people can lose their insurance, be fired from their jobs and evicted from their homes, and children who test positive can be expelled from school.

In Sacramento, however, backers of Proposition 102 praised Governor George Deukmejian yesterday for announcing his public support of the initiative on Friday.

"The governor's endorsement gives us credibility," said state Senator John Doolittle, R-Rocklin. Deukmejian's support shows the measure is no longer sponsored by the "lunatic fringe," Doolittle added.

Proposition 102 opponents received a boost yesterday from Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci came to San Francisco yesterday for discussions with researchers on clinical trials of drugs that may be useful against AIDS.

Fauci has forwarded to his boss, Dr. James Wyngarden, director of the National Institutes of Health, a strong warning against Proposition 102 that was approved by Fauci's national advisory council.

UCSF EXPERT

The warning was drafted by Dr. Merle A. Sande of the University of California in San Francisco, who is also chief of medicine at San Francisco General Hospital and chairman of UCSF's AIDS coordinating council.

If Proposition 102 passes, Fauci's advisory council warned, it will have a devastating impact on clinical trials of new AIDS drugs. Patients who now are willing to take the drugs probably would balk if their names were reported because they were involved in the tests.

A warning against Proposition 102 was also sounded by UCSF's own AIDS council, which said the measure "would greatly hinder efforts to more clearly understand the spread of HIV (the AIDS virus) and therefore stop the epidemic."

SURVEY CONFIRMS FEARS

A researcher at UCSF's Center for AIDS prevention studies, Dr. Susan Kegeles, reported yesterday on a survey showing that most people - both heterosexual and homosexual - who were recently tested for AIDS antibodies would not have taken the test if there had been mandatory reporting of positive test results.

Kegeles surveyed 158 people who were tested at an Alameda county center, and 60 percent of them confirmed the fears of public health workers that passage of Proposition 102 would drive away those at highest risk for AIDS, she said.

County health officers from Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Los Angeles gathered with Mayor Art Agnos at City Hall yesterday to denounce the initiative and warn that implementing it it could cost nearly $2 billion.

AIDS testing clinics will close, other health services will have to be cut, and the annual cost of obeying all the complex reporting rules required by the measure will exceed the total costs for all AIDS treatment programs, warned Dr. Ellen Alkon, Los Angeles County public health director.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1988. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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