Straight Talk on AIDS

The AIDS brochure being mailed to 107 million addresses in the United States is a remarkable achievement. It provides the basic information required to avoid infection with the deadly virus. It deals with the problem factually and openly, a model for families to pursue in a frank and free discussion that the pamphlet is intended to inspire.

Dr. C. Everett Koop, the surgeon general, and Dr. Otis R. Bowen, secretary of health and human services, deserve the gratitude of the nation in taking this step. By all accounts it was not easy, for permission had to be wrung from a White House that until a year ago preferred not to mention the name of the disease and, when it did, favored pillorying the homosexual and intravenous drug populations that in the United States have suffered the highest rates of infection. There had been resistance also from those who think that to talk of sexually related and drug-related activities is to encourage and promote particular practices.

The key, according to Koop, is responsible behavior, and the information in the brochure provides the basis for intelligent decisions. Some people become infected as the children of infected mothers. Some become infected through contaminated blood in transfusions or accidental exposure to infected blood. But the vast majority become infected because of their own high-risk behavior, including the use of unsterile needles and sexual intercourse with infected persons.

The brochure notes the risks, and it also emphasizes that “safe behavior” means: “Not having sex. Sex with one mutually faithful, uninfected partner. Not shooting drugs.”