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THE NEW YORK TIMES, Sé

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‘Dr. Koop’s Decent AIDS Dissent

Even after 26,566 reported cases and 14,977
deaths, Americans tend to whisper when they talk
about AIDS. Welcome, therefore, the loud voice of
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. His is a message
Americans need to hear, and it rings with added
credibility from someone of such rigorous stature in
this Administration. No one needs to hear it more
than this Administration’s Justice Department.

In many communities the re sponse to AIDS is
ignorant, superstitious, inhumane. Dr. Koop’s is in-
formed and compassionate. ‘(Many people, espe-
cially our youth, are not receiving information that
is vital to their future health and well-being because
of our reticence in dealing with the subjects of sex,
sexual practices and homosexuality,” Dr. Koop
writes in a report requested by the White House.
“This silence must end. We can no longer afford to
sidestep frank, open discussions. ... Education
about AIDS should start at an early age so that chil-
dren can grow up knowing the behaviors to avoid to

protect themselves from the AIDS virus.”
The report, a 36-page booklet, is specific about
how AIDS is and isn’t spread — which makes it just
the kind of frank discussion for which Dr. Koop
pleads. ‘‘AIDS,” he says, “‘is not spread by casual,
nonsexual contact. It is spread by high-risk sexual

and drug-related behaviors — behaviors that we
can choose to avoid.”

To that end, Dr. Koop would like to see strong
sex education at home and in the schools ‘‘at the
lowest grade possible’; an increased use of con-

’ doms, and the use of clean needles and syringes by

drug addicts. He opposes compulsory blood testing
to identify those who may have been infected with
the virus, or any efforts to quarantine them.

A copy of his report ought to be delivered to the:
Office of Legal Counsel at Justice. Last summer,
that office ruled that employers who receive Fed-
eral funds may dismiss victims and carriers of
AIDS because they need not be considered handi-
capped and entitled to protection against arbitrary
dismissal. To have AIDS is to be handicapped, ac-:
cording to this ruling, but being able to spread it is’
not. If, despite all medical evidence, an employer
believes that AIDS can be spread through casual
contact, he can send the sufferer packing.

Compare that callous response to the AIDS
crisis with Dr. Koop’s view: “It is time to put self-
defeating attitudes aside and recognize that we are
fighting a disease — not people.’’ May that recogni-
tion come soon, across the country, and across the:
Administration.