Spread of AIDS by Drug Addicts Cited by Koop
Intravenous drug addicts appear to be spreading AIDS in the United States at a higher rate than homosexuals, whose chances of contracting the disease could decline, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said Thursday.
He told the First International Conference on the Global Impact of AIDS that surveys in the United States indicate that many male homosexuals have “undergone a very serious and positive change in behavior” to reduce their risk of contracting AIDS.
“We might even expect a decline in the rate of AIDS reporting from this group in a year or so,” he said.
By contrast, Koop said, intravenous drug abusers have yet to realize that they face a high risk of contracting acquired immune deficiency syndrome from sharing blood-contaminated needles.
“Over the years, we’ve been singularly unsuccessful in penetrating the drug-addicted culture with every other public health message we ever had, including the one that says stop” using drugs, Koop said.
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