Scare Hurts Victims
AIDS
by Communications & Marketing
LAURINBURG—In Florida,
a family of three young boys, all hemo
philiacs who received AIDS contami
nated blood, have been burned out of
their home. In Arkansas, a 38-year old
person suffering from AIDS in the final
stages of the disease lies dying alone in
an indigent care hospital, out of money,
fired from his job, neither nursing
homes, his family northe Veterans Hos
pital will take him in. Across America,
infants bom to AIDS infected mothers
are bom, suffer and die in publicly
funded hospitals. There are few willing
to adopt them or accept them in foster
care.
In six short years, AIDS has
become a major public health problem,
a major public financing dilemma and
the source of some of the most profound
ethical questions which have ever faced
American society.
Who is susceptible to AIDS?
“Every person in America who
has had sexual intimacy since about
1978 with anyone who is not a
monogomous life-time partner, has
engaged in behavior which has put him
or her at risk of developing AIDS,”
states Dr. W.D. While, biomedical ex
pert and professor at St. Andrews Pres
byterian College. “Those who are intra
venous drug users who share needles are
also at risk,” White said. Individuals
who received blood transfusions before
screening procedures protected the na
tions blood supplies have also come
down with the disease.
This means that AIDS is the
society ’ s problem, not simply a problem
confined to certain identifiable groups.
Unfortunately, White says, because of
the way in which the fatal disease first
came into the United Slates, people have
tended both to think of the disease as
“theirs, not ours” and to discriminate
against persons with the disease. Even
those who show no symptoms of the
disease but test positive to the AIDS
antibodies often find themselves vic
tims of societal discrimination.
White says that part of the
AIDS phenomenon in the United States
is that the disease has several meta
phoric and symbolic associations which
make it particularly difficult for the
American public to deal with.
First, it is a mysterious disease
and its diagnosis is tantamount to a death
sentence. First identified in 1981, sci
entists have yet to find a way to prevent
the disease or prolong the life span of its
victims—despite six years of concen-
uated research. Americans have tradi
tionally been terrified of death and have
found ways to deny its inevitability.
And it has been especially afraid of both
homosexuals and drug abusers the
two groups most popularly identified
with the disease.
Among the psychological
symbols evoked by the AIDS virus
which are particulary volatile in our
society. White says, are:
•thanatos or death—historically,
Americans have been ambivalent about
death, simultaneously denying death
through the pursuit of eternal youth, and
embracing it through the glorification of
violence;
• eros or sexuality and idealism—an
other area of American ambivalence
causing Americans to both fear and
embrace human sexuality;
• homo-eros—there is an intense fear of
homosexuality in American culture;
• drugs—the American culture is one
which deeply fears drug addiction as it
also offers a “pill for every ill.”
In addition. White says, AIDS
has resurrected the attitudes which sur
rounded the Plague, the leper and the
freak in western cultural traditions.
Because of the symbols AIDS
evokes, it has created one of the most
volatile public health issues in recent
history. “It is very difficult to follow a
reasoned public policy in the facerof so
many explosive negative symbols,”
White said.
Compounding the symbolic
weight of the disease for both its suffer
ers and the society, is the staggering cost
of care for those afflicted with it.
Amidst a number of experi
mental treatments, the drug known
popularly as AZT has during the last
year shown some promise of slowing
down the effects of die disease. It does
not cure, and it has painful and life-
threateningsideeffects. Thisdrugalone
costs over SI0,000{)er year. Other treat
ments involving high technology medi
cine sharply escalate these costs.
Estimates are that in another
fouryears there will be 275,000 persons
suffering from AIDS in the United
States. Making the situation even more
difficult is that the incubation period for
the full blown disease is variously esti
mated to be from 2 to 15 years—a period
of time in which the disease can be trans
mitted but shows no symptoms. The
latest estimates from the Centers for
Disease Control is that some 1.5 to 2.0
million persons might lest positive for
the virus. While says that this is proba
bly a conservative estimate, and that
some authorities guess as many as 10
million, or one American in ever 220
have been exposed to the virus.
Individuals diagnosed as
AIDS victims are often fired from their
jobs, losing their insurance. Many in
surance companies will not insure per
sons who test positive, and others have
limited payments for persons afready
infected. Given the fact that those diag
nosed with the disease live an average
of 18 months after diagnosis, the costs
involved are staggering. White says.
“We desperately need a federal
financial plan to distribute the cost of
care for AIDS throughout the nation,
just as we need a federal plan for other
catastrophic illnesses. Whether it would
be best to deal with this as a society in an
AIDS bill or in a general catastrophic
healthplanisnotclearyet. But one thing
is clear, the economic problem is not
going away, we must deal with the is
sue,” White says.
“There are also ethical deci
sions which must be made by the society
about our treatment of persons with
Aids. As Christians, we have a special
moral obligation in exercising Christian
love towards persons with AIDS, and
toward their families, their friends and
their loved ones,” White said. He is also
an ordained Baptist minister.
White says that among these
obligations are to fight discrimination
against AIDS patients and those testing
positive for the virus in jobs, housing,
schools, insurance and even in the fu
neral industry. Currently, White says,
many funeral homes are refusing those
who have died of AIDS. “We are also
obligated to support the medical profes-
sion and the scientific enterprizes as
they care for patients and engage in
research to insist they are adequately
funded.
Individuals in this society also
have an obligation to find out as many
facts as possible about methods to pro
tect themselves from AIDS as well as
educating themselves about ways in
which AIDS cannot be transmitted, to
alleviate unnecessary fears and behav
iors resulting from imnecessary fear,
White said.
“AIDS is primarily contracted
through intimate sexual contact,” White
said. “If people are going to engage in
these intimacies, the only reasonable
protection is the use of high grade latex
condoms, using only water-based lubri
cants,” White said.
“People do not get AE)S i
through casual social interaction, noi
through living in the same house with or
sharing meals with, nor from breathing
the same air as victims, nor from shak
ing hands with them. Probably, AIDS is
not even transmitted by kissing, al
though rough or ‘deep throat’ kissing
might be risky even though there is no
known case which has clearly resulted
from such activity.
“People also do not get AIDS
from routine caring for people who have
AIDS. But, health care professionals
and others who care for the bodily needs
of AIDS victims must take the same ,
kind of precautions they would in caring
for persons with other catastrophic in- )
fectious diseases—for example,
Hepatitus B, caused by a far more virile
virus. This means that they should wear
rubber gloves and if they are in a situ
ation in which blood may spatter into
their faces—a surgeon or a dentist—
they should also wear masks and per
haps gowns. Rescue teams who mighi |
in emergencies be exposed to blood and
body fluids should also wear such pro
tection as rubber gloves, masks and
gowns,” White says.
He says that at this time he is
opposed to mandatory testing for
AIDS virus for two reasons—the first is
that diere is no demonstrable value to the
public health in mandating tests, an
there are possible public health
involved. T esting does not in itself of ^
any realistic protection. The secon is
that unless testing is accompanied*
competent counseling both before
after, and joined with tough anti
continued on page 7
"Every person who has had
sexual intimacy since about 1978 . . .
has engaged in behavior which has put
him or her at risk of developing AIDS.”