A26 Fripay, Octoser 24, 1986

THE WASHINGTON Post

The Washington Post —

AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER

 

A Doctor’s Good Advice

T ISN’T OFTEN that Planned Parenthood

and the Reagan administration see eye to eye,

but a national crisis has brought them togeth-
er on at least one subject: AIDS. A report issued
earlier this week by Surgeon General C. Everett
Koop drew praise from the family-planning group
specifically because it urges sex education in
schools at the earliest possible grade. But that
recommendation is not the only noteworthy item

in Dr, Koop’s frank and sensible report.

_  Wednesday’s statement was prepared at the
request of President Reagan and is styled “a
report to the American people on AIDS.” No
reader could come away complacent about the
statistics presented on the spread and deadliness
of the disease, but the report contains more than
facts. It exhorts Americans to put aside preju-
dices they may have against homosexuals and
intravenous drug users, to help the victims of this
epidemic and to stop talking nonsense about
quarantines, universal blood tests and tattoos for
those who test positive. Perhaps most gratifying
to those who view the surgeon general as a
conservative, he approaches this sensitive subject
without making value judgments, only medical
ones. “It is time,” he says, “to put self-defeating
attitudes aside and recognize that we are fighting
a disease—not people.”

On the issue of sex education, Dr. Koop is
forthright. “There is now no doubt that we need
sex education in schools and that it include
information on sexual practices that may put our
children at risk for AIDS.” This risk applies
primarily to homosexuals and intravenous drug
users, and the report contains specific instruc-
tions on how people in these categories can
reduce their exposure. But, as the most recent
data on the spread of AIDS confirm, it is not
limited to these groups, and the disease is spread-
ing, through sexual contact, to the general popu-
lation. Abstinence and the maintenance of mutual-
ly faithful monogamous relationships, whether
homosexual or heterosexual, are the only sure
means of avoiding sexually transmitted AIDS, But
the report acknowledges that not everyone will
accept such restrictions. It goes on to describe
the steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.

Dr. Koop’s statement sets a standard for other
government officials—-federal, state and local—in
dealing with AIDS and its victims. Without a hint
of mean-spiritedness or hesitation, he says three
things. We must help and not condemn those who
suffer. We must take precautions against the
spread of AIDS. We must educate our children
about the dangers of this disease. That’s good
advice, and it should be heeded.