AIDS Advice for Every U.S. Household: Talk About It : 110 Million Pamphlets on the Way

The federal government unveiled today an explicit pamphlet, to be mailed to every American household, on how to avoid AIDS, the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The pamphlet includes advice on condoms and urges readers to “talk about” AIDS “with those you love.”

“This is a ‘first’ in the history of our country,” Health and Human Services Secretary Otis R. Bowen said in an interview. He said it is the first time the federal government has attempted to contact “virtually every resident, directly by mail, regarding a public health crisis.”

The project calls for 110 million copies to be printed in English and an additional 4 million in Spanish. The Spanish version will not be mailed. Rather, efforts will be made to distribute the Spanish language-pamphlet through community-based organizations.

“The brochure lays out the facts of what everyone needs to know,” Bowen said.

“It’s written in plain, easy, straightforward language that is at about the 12- to 13-year-old reading level,” Bowen said. “It doesn’t mince words, yet it is in good taste. It stresses proper behavior and it stresses values and responsibilities.”

Koop Urges Discussion

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, whose photo appears on the cover of the pamphlet, writes in a message beside the photo:

“Some of the issues involved in this brochure may not be things you are used to discussing openly. I can easily understand that. But now you must discuss them. We all must know about AIDS. Read this brochure and talk about it with those you love.”

The AIDS virus most often is spread through close contact with blood, blood products or semen from infected persons.

The second page of the brochure bears the blue heading “How Do You Get AIDS From Sex?” and goes on to state that the deadly AIDS virus “can enter the body through the vagina, penis, rectum or mouth.”

The fourth page is half filled by a section boldly headlined: “What Is All The Talk About Condoms?”

“Not so very long ago, condoms (rubbers or prophylactics) were things we didn’t talk about very much,” it says. “Now, they’re discussed on the evening news and on the front page of your newspaper, and displayed out in the open in your local drugstore, grocery and convenience store.

“For those who are sexually active and not limiting their sexual activity to one partner, condoms have been shown to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. That is why the use of condoms is recommended to help reduce the spread of AIDS.”

270,000 Cases Projected

Federal health officials have projected there will be 270,000 cases of AIDS in the United States by 1991 and that as many as 1.5 million Americans are infected with the virus now.

Koop was asked at a news conference whether he expects a new wave of criticism from conservatives who have denounced his handling of the AIDS epidemic.

“I expect everything all the time,” said Koop.

Koop noted that the legislation ordering a national mailer to be accomplished by June 30 specified that its content was not to be subject to clearance outside the health department.

“We took them at their word,” said Koop. “This was not cleared in the sense that some documents are.”

Bowen said the project is costing about $17 million and that copies of the brochure will start appearing in mailboxes shortly after May 26.

Most will be delivered within two weeks after that, he said, and all by June 30.