Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Nov. 11, 1991, edition 1 / Page 3
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i^pvemBer 11,1991 Tagetiute Health Care Focus AIDS and Health Care Workers: Mandatory Testing? by Tarsha Garland A young woman with a dete riorated body and deadi-filled eyes in a gaunt face was wheeled into a silent room. Some people moved away as if to avoid her so that if she sneezed they would not catch what she has. Her weakvoicequivered^sshespoke. The people were well aware djat die young woman was very ill, so they overlooked the fact that she was cot a veiy eloquent speaker. But what the woman had to say brought tears to some peq)le*s eyes and moans of pity fixim otl^rs. This woman is twenty-three year old Kimberly Bergalis, the Flopda woman is contracted AIDS two years ago from her dentist. She had never been sexually active; she wasn’t an intxavoious drug user, and she wasn’t a hemophiliac. In 6u:t, giv^ her lifestyle, she s^uld have been at low risk of contracting AIDS. Kimberiy, a few months ago, pleaded with Congress to pass the Bergalis Bill. The purpose of the Bergalis Bill is to mandate that health care workers take AIDS tests, and in turn a health care water has the oppor tunity not to work on a patient if the patient i dp not flunk dWfttieBecgalis Bill dxxild be pass^'b&ause the government should not make regulations for a dis ease. Ifthegovonmei^regulates AIDS, then cancer, sexually transmitted dis eases and many otho- such regulatioas will soon follow. I do not want our government to succumb to every dis eased body diat rolls in front of them. Although humanj^^tions. (nove our legialatcm to do many'iWg, fliifi is one circumstance whn^ long range effecta will have to be considered.. Kimberly Bergalis and many others are pushing for the govenmient to make • legislative policy requiring doctors to take a mandatory AIDS test and die pfttioits to do die same. This may seem like a gpod bill DOW. but what will this bill lead* to? The American Medical Asso- ciatioo Bugimt-lfaat passing the Becgaltr Bill will only cause Airttier prejudice against AIDS victims and fuitber tie our court system. The AMA firmly believes that no one should be punished for such a deadly. AMA is of the opinion that **moral responsibility” is the only way to ensure that AIDS is not transmitted in the doctor/patient rela tionship. When a doctor has found that he has tested HTV positive, he needs to inform his patients, and in turn, if a patient is HIV positive, he needs to tell the healdi care woricm so that necessary precautions are taten into effect If the Bergalis Bill is passed, one could be denied treatment in a medical emer gency situation by a doctor who does not know whelha-or not you have AIDS. During the first six months, when a person is carrying the AIDS virus, no AIDS test can detect the virus, iw the test is based upon the amount of antigen in the body and not recogniticn ofttievinis. in addition to the inaccu racy of these tests, the result of a false positive test could destroy a person’s career and life. The money needed to put the Bergalis Bill into effect should be spent on education the population of AIDS, not on testing. Preventing innocent people from getting AIDS will not start with threats to punish people, but with changes in their atti tudes. IF the Bwgalis Bill is passed, a doctor can sue his patient w1k> gives him AIDS. The cost of this fiasco would be millions. Other alternatives must be used in onln'to avoid unneces sary suing. Everyrae has a chance of getting AIDS. Just answer some of the questions below and if you answer^yes” to any of these question, ym are at a highCT risk of cntfnicting AIDS than you diou^: 1. Are you sexually active het erosexual? 2.; Ifyou are sraually active, have you had more than one partner, or a partly wto has had previous requiring the use of hypodermic needles? Have you had a partner that used drugs or was involved with someone who did? If you use needles, did you diare the needles, did you share the needles you used? 4. Do you not use condoms dur ing intercourse? 5. A homosexual male that does not use condoms during intercourse? AIDS is real! It doesn’t just happen to homosexual males. In i^ite of Jesse Helms’ insisting that AIDS is a homosexual infliction, it is time &at he and others listen to researchers and physicians who work widi AIDS pa- tiei^ so that we, the public, stop making these people suffer even more by throwing ^m out of the human race. In Newsweek. Kimberly B^galis stated that she is angry because people have treated her as if she was a plague to society. She and other AIDS victims are human, as you anH J, We all fear AIDS, but the only way to eliminate fear is education—^not by creating even more fear with a law. This is one circumstance where a law will not solve die problem. SGA Display ing White Crosses for Alcohol Awareness Week Yes, Halloween came and went ov^ a week ago. Why, ttien, is the Student Government Association re-creating a cem etery in the middle of Mereditti’s front drive? The white crosses that will line the circle near the gatehouse represent ttie 602 tives lost last year in North Carolina to alcohol-related automobile accidents. SGA will put the crosses iq> on Friday, Novembe- 8, where they will remain until Saturday, November 16, fol lowing MEA’s Wlute Iris Ball. Along with this display, "‘Tape” will be played on the carillon bells on Friday, November IS, during the 10 o’clock hour, by Meredith senior, Amy Brock. SGA’s purpose in this, as well as all Alc^l Awareness Week activities, is to increase awareness among the Meredith community concerning the dan gerous effects of alcohol abuse. Hopefully, this display will provide a though'ixovoking re minder on the dangm of drink ing and driving. 3. Are you or have you used drugs Poet Reads to Colton English Club by Amity Brown An East Carolina Univenity English profiMaor read from his poetry and short stories at • poetry reading qxnaored by the Coltoo BngliA Chib Tuesday. October 22. IteMakuck began the rMdingwidi *‘PDniiteiice,**aflbortfltofy aboutlfae fole cats have subtly played in his hie, and foUowed wilfa several poems, iwp-huimg “Binoculars,’* “Woridng Construction,’’ and **Eqaatiaiis.** Makuck has takni his writings from ai^ topics u his varied life experi ences, his paraits, a summer job, and living in France. Additionally, Maknck offined some advice to beginning writers, saying ‘‘Write about objects. Objects are saturate in emotioas.*’ Betty Adcock, writer-in-resideDce, introduced Makuck, saying be had tau^ in Rnuice and had givaa readings Hie Folger Shakaspeare LAnry and Ibe Smithsoiiian
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