Battling AIDS in Orange County
In response to “Aids: Danger for All, Not Just Gay Men” by Neil R. Schram (May 8), I must echo the concern expressed by the author.
In Orange County we have initiated an Aids Coalition that has been meeting monthly for the past few months. The members include a broad segment of the community, including the Orange County Health Department and the Health Planning Council, the American Lung Assn. of Orange County, the American Red Cross, the Gay Community Center and numerous other interested groups. The primary concern of the coalition is prevention of the spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and our initial offering will be a conference designed for health care professionals and paraprofessionals.
The coalition is anxious to continue to provide educational opportunities and identify and address their community needs related to Aids in Orange County.
Those organizations interested in supporting the coalition with funding or volunteer support, please write to me c/o UC Irvine Medical Center, Infection Control, Route 171, 101 The City Drive, Orange, Calif. 92668.
This problem will not go away. We must work together to care for those stricken with the disease as well as to educate those individuals at high risk for acquiring the disease, the health care providers and the community at large.
PEARL JEMISON-SMITH
Orange
Pearl Jemison-Smith is a nurse epidemiologist in infection control at the UCI Medical Center.
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