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Gay Peoples Chronicle

February 1986

CLEVELAND CLINIC / UNITED LABOR

Congressman Feighan

exposed to the virus indicate that most of them have remained healthy.

Calabrese also pointed out that since AIDS was recog nized the percentages of victims by risk group have remained constant. Threequarters of them are gay or bisexual males; 15 to 17′ per cent are intravenous drugabusers; and one per cent acquired the virus through heterosexual intercourse.

With testing techniques to exclude blood from persons infected with the virus, the proportion of hemophiliacs with AIDS should decrease.

Calabrese clarified a further mystery by explaining that those "others listed as acquiring the virus in unknown ways are patients too ill to be questioned upon admission to hospitals, or persons trying to hide their gayness or drug use by denying either activity.

Modes of Transmission Davis described HTLV-3 infection as having a fairly short incubation period, ranging from two weeks to six months. He emphasized that acting as receptor in anal intercourse or fisting is the most dangerous sexual activity. The roles of rimming and oral sex in spreading the virus are uncertain. Almost all infections by heterosexual contact involved vaginal intercourse. Thirty-five per cent of the victims had à prior history

of venereal disease. Davis' main prescription for safe sex was not to share mucous membranes with strangers.

Characterizing popular fears about transmission of the HTLV-3 virus as tremendously exaggerated, Davis pointed out that no persons not belonging to at-risk groups) have acquired it while living with children

who have AIDS, in spite of

recurrent close contact with them and their body fluids.

He described the virus as not very sturdy, noting that bleach or a 50 per cent alcohol solution kills it. Emphasizing the importance of maintaining perspective on the dangers of AIDS, Davis noted that many more people die of smoking and of alcohol-related automobile accidents.

Anxiety-Induced Panic

Silverman enunciated one of the Conference's main themes by defining a second nationwide epidemic he calls AIPS: Anxiety-Induced Panic Syndrome.

As factors producing anxiety about AIDS he noted its sexual transmission and association with homosexuals; the lack of a cure or any vaccine; and the terminal nature of the disease. The main factor he described as wrong information given out by health care workers who are uninformed, misinformed, or misguided. As an example he cited the three Houston physicians, supporters of the homophobic Straight Slate, who wore masks to a city council meeting and advised the public not to shake hands with strangers, claiming you could acquire AIDS through sweat.

With 85% of its victims between 20 and 49, AIDS is a disease of young men, who often must tell their parents not only that they are gay but that they are dying.

Silverman stressed that Casual contact transmits AIDS hysteria, rather than AIDS.

AIDS in the Work Place Session II, titled AIDS in the Work Place, was moderated by Frank W. Emig, Director of Community Services for the National AFL-CIO. He opened the session by referring to the position paper issued last October by the AFL-CIO, emphasizing its concern with any kind of discrimination and its opposition to mandatory testing. Emig hoped the Conference would raise the level of un-

derstanding feedsdisto deal

with AIDS-related the work place.

Dr. Mervyn Silverman

in

Public Health Perspective

Speaking a second time and discussing AIDS from a public health perspective, Silverman emphasized a point made in Session I, the difficulty of transmitting the HTLV-3 virus except through sexual intercourse or sharing needles. In spite of intimate contact with AIDS patients, health care workers have not developed AIDS. Even among those who punctured themselves with needles used to draw blood samples, only three possibly positive blood tests were recorded. Reiterating that tests of persons in close household contact with victims of AIDS have been negative, he pointed out that almost everyone wants to make AIDS more important than it really is, and noted that Hepatitis B is probably 1000 times more contagious.

Educational Needs

Carole Levine, Editor of the Hastings Report, called educational program that adfor an effective and ongoing

dresses the fears and anxieularly needed, she said, is ties caused by AIDS. Particinformation from credible sources that demystifies the disease. Such a program must also address the stigmas attached to the groups who are most at risk for AIDS.

Noting rising concern over the costs of treatment for AIDS, Levine described these as less expensive than the treatment for lung cancer. terming attempts by insurance companies to exclude coverage for AIDS victims unreasonable, she predicted it would set a precedent for excluding other diseases.

Legal Issues

Attorney Rhonda Rivera, Co-chairman of the Ohio Governor's Advisory Committee to Prohibit Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, examined legal issues connected with AIDS, concentrating on the rights of workers with the disease. Firing workers with AIDS (or falsely perceived to have AIDS because of positive HTLV-3 tests) violates federal and state laws protecting handicapped persons.

Rivera also predicted that using HTLV-3 tests to screen workers would be illegal because the test is not diagnostic of AIDS or predićtive.

Gay Workers

Buck Harris, Gay Health Consultant for the Ohio Department of Health, discussed gay workers. Describing his position, Harris said that in July, 1983, the Ohio Department of Health brought together physicians, public health officials, and representatives of gay organizations to launch an educational program about AIDS. He was appointed to this in January, 1984.

Blaming the media for making homosexuality an AIDS issue, Harris also deplored myths and ignorance about homosexuality endemic among medical professions, whose members still tend to prefer the sickness model.