Medicine in 1988: Government Action on AIDS

egrejeen — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:50:15 +0000

This article “Government Action on AIDS” uses Medicine in 1988 as reference. Two reports issued in June criticized the U.S. government for paying too little attention to the AIDS epidemic. The Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic, led by retired Admiral James D. Watkins, released a report that recommended antidiscrimination legislation, explicit prevention education, and expanded addiction treatment programs (to treat the drug users who make up a large portion of AIDS victims). The commission’s report criticized the Reagan administration for being ‘inconsistent and not properly coordinated’ in efforts to control AIDS. The preceding day, a committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences cited ‘the absence of strong federal leadership’ in fighting AIDS. Both reports urged the government to outlaw discrimination against AIDS victims.

Early in the summer, in an effort that some experts said was ‘too little, too late,’ the government did mount a massive public education campaign. The Public Health Service and the CDC produced an educational brochure, ‘Understanding AIDS,’ which was sent to 107 million U.S. households. In June, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said that distribution of clean needles to drug addicts could help stem the AIDS epidemic. And in October, Congress passed a bill to fight AIDS authorizing spending of $1.3 billion over three years for testing, counseling, home care for victims, and research. President Ronald Reagan signed the measure into law in November.

In October the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would no longer require time-consuming ‘phase III’ research tests on humans before approving drugs for patients with life-threatening illnesses like AIDS, cancer, or Parkinson’s disease. FDA Commissioner Frank Young said the change should reduce the time involved in clinical studies by up to one half. The above article “Government Action on AIDS” uses Medicine in 1988 as reference.

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Medicine in 1988: Government Action on AIDS

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