Still Dragging Our Feet

The election of Municipal Judge Rand Schrader as chairman of the County AIDS Commission holds the promise of continuing the vigorous and constructive leadership that Rabbi Allen I. Freehling has brought the commission in its first two years. However, the task will not be easy,because of continuing resistance on the part of some of the county supervisors to the policies required to stem the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic, and the shortage of public health funds.

There is a sense of frustration among many, if not all of the commission members. They have not been involved in crucial budget negotiations by the AIDS Program Office of the Department of Health Services. And their advice has been frequently ignored by the Board of Supervisors, at whose pleasure they serve.

But they have played a useful role, nevertheless. The monthly meetings serve as a sounding board for community groups involved in the AIDS effort. The commission was helpful in winning the support of the supervisors for the county anti-discrimination ordinance. And the commission has been able to serve as a voice of reason in the face of extremism. The commissioners helped defeat misguided initiatives on mandatory AIDS testing in two state elections. Only last week they set the record straight, appropriately disagreeing with Supervisor Pete Schabarum after he had asserted that “the vast majority of people would not have any interest in AIDS or AIDS funding.”

Schabarum and Mike Antonovich had opposed the anti-discrimination ordinance and had been part of a board majority that, over the years, has slowed the response of the county. Valuable time has been lost in mounting effective education and prevention programs. The commission, which includes some of the county’s most distinguished public health and AIDS experts, has encouraged progress in expanding and diversifying county efforts. The county has almost doubled its financial commitment to fighting AIDS in the last two years. It is moving ahead appropriately in establishing a special AIDS ward and creating an enlarged out-patient AIDS facility at the County-USC Medical Center.

Much remains to be done, however. Development of residential care and other alternatives to hospitalization is lagging. So are prevention programs directed where the risk of new infection is greatest, among adolescents and drug users. There is a critical need for expanded programs among blacks and Latinos, who have disproportionately high infection rates.