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The Case for Routine Testing
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13129 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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11 / 1987 |
1,800 Words |
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Gary L. Bauer
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In the face of mounting infection and casualties from the deadly disease AIDS, it is time to stop treating this as a politically protected epidemic. It is imperative that we move forward with the routine health measures that have enabled us to contain epidemics in the past, such as the syphilis epidemic earlier in this century. Routine testing in most cases, and mandatory testing in some, as proposed by President Reagan, is a necessary first step in this process.
Consider the startling facts about the disease. Today there are more than 40,000 AIDS cases and 20,000 deaths. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that between 1 million and 1.5 million Americans are infected with the virus. This may be a conservative estimate.
Even more chilling are the rates at which the disease is spreading. Four years ago there were only 1,500 AIDS cases. A year ago there were about 16,000 cases with 8,100 deaths. The numbers have been virtually doubling every year. If the rates persist, the U.S. Surgeon General calculates that we could have a quarter of a million AIDS cases by 1990.
In addition to ravaging lives, AIDS also threatens to ravage the nation's economy. It costs approximately $1,000 a day to treat an AIDS patient in the hospital. As the number of patients increases, who is going to bear the enormous costs, which almost inevitably exceed the victim's ability to pay? Either the government or the insurance industry will be faced with a staggering bill, estimated at $10 billion by 1991. Researchers Anne Scitovsky of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Dorothy Rice of the University of California place the total economic cost of AIDS by 1991, including the price of lost productivity, at $65 billion. Ultimately, this cost will be paid by taxpayers and citizens.
How do we begin to approach these daunting facts and probabilities? Three simple criteria should govern all AIDS policy. First, we should do everything we can to find a cure. Second, we should treat with compassion victims who are suffering from the disease. Last, but certainly not least, we should take all necessary measures to protect Americans not infected with AIDS.
There is no question that the government is assiduously backing research efforts to cure AIDS. In addition to private and corporate research under way, this year the Reagan administration plans to spend more than $300 million on AIDS research. Next year we will spend $413 million. In an era of budget deficits, there is no stinginess in funding this high-priority project.
The administration is also working to dismantle regulatory barriers so that drugs now confined to the pharmaceutical laboratory can be available in the marketplace. As President Reagan said, "It makes no sense and in fact it is cruel to keep the hope of new drugs from dying patients." The treatment drug AZT has been introduced to the market in record time, circumventing the usual red tape.
In addition to these measures, it is essential that we have a widespread and systematic program of AIDS testing if we are going to protect those Americans who are not yet ill. The reason is fairly obvious. We have to start by knowing all the facts about AIDS. We need to know who the victims of the disease are and how
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