The World - News from Feb. 24, 1989

Residents of the Soviet autonomous republic of Kalmyk, where more than two dozen children were infected with the deadly AIDS virus, have been the objects of abuse by fearful neighbors, a newspaper reported. Writing in the government newspaper Izvestia, poet David Kugultinov said residents of nearby areas have begun throwing stones at cars bearing license plates from Kalmyk, located between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, “as if the cars are spreading AIDS.” Kugultinov urged the Soviet Union to adopt measures to prohibit discrimination against victims of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.