Ae Slar-weoyerr THE NEWSPAPER FOR NEW JERSFY : ) TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1993 ee —— 3 AIDS panel wraps up with parting shot at government inaction By ROBERT COHEN Star-Ledger Washingten Bureau — WASHINGTON-The National Commission on AIDS yesterday concluded its work by warning that “short-sighted” U.S. policymakers are still failing to ad- dress an ever-expanding and deadly epidemic that is spinning “out of control.” “The failure to respond adequately represents, at best, continued dogged denial and, at worst, a dismay- ing hidden and unvoiced belief that this is just a disease of gay men and intravenous drug users, both groups that are perceived as disposable,” said the commission in its final report.” The commission, set up by Congress four years ago to advise the nation on what to do about acquired im- mune deficiency syndrome, said it has been trying re- peatedly to “shout a warning to our nation that would reverse a decade of unreasoning fear and cruel indiffer- ence to the AIDS epidemic.” “Sadly, we must report that America is still doing poorly. Our warnings have fallen far short of their in- tended effect,” the panel said. “The epidemic numbers continue to expand, the trends toward universality of in- volvement have intensified, and the ghastly twin ep- idemics of AIDS and drug abuse have been joined by a ~ third deadly fellow traveler—tuberculosis.” The commission has been a constant critic of the federal government since its inception, arguing that the billions of dollars being spent on AIDS has been too little and often misdirected. . _ As of March 31, AIDS had been diagnosed in 289,320 Americans, of whom 63 percent, or 182,275, have died since June 1, 1981, according to the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention. New Jersey ranks fifth among the states nationally, with 15,974 AIDS cases reported and 10,400 deaths. More than half of New Jersey’s AIDS cases stem from in- travenous drug use. Earlier this month, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that New Jersey is one of four states where AIDS is the leading cause of death among young adults ages 25 to 44. The report cited seri- Associated Press Dr. June Osborn, chairwoman of the National Commission on AIDS, talks to the vice chairman, Dr. David Rogers, during a news conference in Washington ous problems in Elizabeth, Newark, Paterson and Jersey ness that, after four years of studying the disease and City. speaking about its causes, national leaders failed to do During a press conference yesterday, members of | much about it. the AIDS commission expressed frustration and sad- While the fatal disease, which attacks the body's immune system, has no cure, members of the commis- sion said its spread is largely preventable. But, the panel’s recommendations on prevention, such as sex education and making clean needles avail- able to drug addicts, have been largely unheeded. The commission, which has made many recom- mendations, boiled down its message to two points yes- terday, calling on leaders to speak frankly about AIDS and to develop a “clear, well-articulated national plan” for dealing with the disease.” “What should be done is not complicated,” the re- port said. “But it requires leadership, a plan, and the na- tional resolve to implement it.” For the future, the commission report said, more people will be infected, more will die, a cure is “difficult to imagine” and a vaccine for general use in humans is at least five to 10 years away. Dr. June Osborn, the commission’s chairwoman, and Dr. David Rogers, the vice chairman, said in an in- troduction to the report that the “human immunodefi- ciency virus has profoundly changed life on our planet.” But they added that “America has not done well in ac- knowledging this fact or in mobilizing its vast resources to address it appropriately.” The commission, whose members are from both political parties, often criticized the Bush administra- tion for not doing enough about the epidemic and for being squeamish about discussing subjects such as ho- . mosexual sex. In this final report, the commission said, “New hope surged with the election of President Clinton.” The administration has ptoposed a 1994 budget that in- cludes $2.7 billion for AIDS research, treatment and prevention, a 28 percent increase over this year’s spend- ing. The report said that while Clinton was sympathetic to the cause and had promised much, he had yet to de- liver. The appointment by Clinton on Friday of Kristine Gebbie as the government's AIDS policy coordinator, however, brought a positive response, with Rogers say- ing he is pleased the administration has “finally started its engine on AIDS.”