Reagan Orders AIDS ‘Course of Action’

President Reagan formally received the report of his AIDS commission Monday and immediately directed Dr. Donald Ian MacDonald, his special assistant for drug policy, to devise within 30 days “a course of action that takes us forward.”

The President said that he asked MacDonald, who is also administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, to include among his priorities consideration of specific measures to strengthen implementation of the guidelines issued in March by the Office of Personnel Management that prohibit discrimination against federal workers with AIDS.

‘Dignity and Kindness’

“The report embraces the major concepts my Administration laid out over a year ago: to be compassionate towards victims of the disease, to care for them with dignity and kindness and, at the same time, to inform and educate our citizens so that we can prevent the further spread of the disease,” Reagan said in a statement.

Reagan made no mention, however, of the report’s principal recommendation, that federal anti-discrimination laws to protect the rights of the ill and infected be expanded to include the private sector. The current law applies only to those institutions or contractors receiving federal funds. The Administration has said that it opposes the enactment of such legislation on the federal level, preferring that the matter be left to the states.

The federal guidelines on AIDS in the workplace, which recommend that AIDS-infected employees be permitted to work as long as they are able and allows managers to take disciplinary action against individuals who refuse to work with AIDS-infected colleagues, do not, however, have the force of law. In its report, the commission recommended that the White House issue an immediate executive order banning discrimination in the executive branch against workers with AIDS or AIDS infection.

Reagan Called Humanitarian

Adm. James D. Watkins, chairman of the commission, who met with Reagan, MacDonald and Vice President George Bush Monday, called Reagan “a compassionate humanitarian” with “a big heart, a warm heart” and urged that he be given a chance to study the report’s nearly 600 recommendations before acting.

“He is extremely sensitive to the epidemic,” Watkins said. “He knows a lot more than people give him credit for.”

He added: “Let’s give him a chance.”

Watkins said that he was encouraged “because the President took some actions immediately” by appointing MacDonald “to take a hard look at our report and convert it to an action plan.” MacDonald, an expert in drug abuse, also served for a time as acting assistant secretary for health during Reagan’s second term and is considered knowledgeable about AIDS.

“He does not have preconceived notions that others have had,” Watkins said.

The 13-member commission completed its nearly yearlong assignment on June 17 and presented Reagan with a document that its members hope will serve as a comprehensive blueprint for a national strategy to combat the deadly epidemic. Commission members estimated that the package of proposals would cost $3.1 billion a year, divided among federal, state and local governments, with the federal government picking up two-thirds of the bill.

The report has been widely praised by AIDS experts and others for its ambitious public health policy initiatives, as well as for its compassion and sensitivity.

Watkins said that, during his meeting with Reagan, the President related a story he had heard of a woman who had become infected through a blood transfusion and later infected her two children, one of whom contracted AIDS and was rejected from school.

President Moved by Story

“The President felt moved by the story--and I told the President that this is not atypical,” Watkins said. “This is more the rule than the exception. He understands what we are saying.”

Meanwhile, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, endorsed the commission report in a statement saying: “We join Adm. Watkins and the commission in their call for tougher anti-discrimination and confidentiality measures. We support their call for expanded education and research programs and innovative approaches to providing care. Let us hope that the President will be encouraged by this report to put together a national plan to guide us in a war on AIDS.”

Reagan said that the document “represents an impressive effort and significantly increases our level of understanding to deal with AIDS.”

In February, commission members approved an interim report that proposed a dramatic 10-year program against drug abuse, with an annual minimum increase of $2.2 billion in federal, state, and local funds, to establish a nationwide system of “treatment on demand” for intravenous drug abusers. Experts believe that, if intravenous drug abuse can be treated, it would help curb the spread of the AIDS virus, which often is transmitted by sharing contaminated needles.

The report’s key recommendation, however, stressed discrimination as the greatest obstacle to controlling AIDS. It said that existing laws that prohibit discrimination against the handicapped--which the courts have extended to include individuals suffering from infectious diseases--should be expanded to cover the private sector.