Novello Pledges Active Surgeon General Tenure : Health: She tells senators she would take strong stands on AIDS education, smoking.

Surgeon General-designate Dr. Antonia C. Novello pledged Friday to be as outspoken as her predecessor in such public health areas as smoking and AIDS and said she will pay special attention to the health problems of women, children and minorities.

Novello, a native of Puerto Rico, would be both the first woman and the first Latino to hold the post, if she is confirmed.

“I will . . . (offer) open, honest advice to the American people,” she told members of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, who were clearly friendly to her nomination. “My credo will be: good science and good sense. In the words of Cervantes, I will not ‘mince the matter.’ I give you my word.”

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the committee, noted that Novello faced a difficult challenge “following in the footsteps” of Dr. C. Everett Koop, who waged vigorous public crusades against tobacco and in favor of increased AIDS education. Nevertheless, he said, “everything I have heard about you gives me confidence that you will provide the leadership the American people need . . .”

Novello, who is expected to win easy confirmation by the Senate later this month, told the lawmakers she has “always felt I was here to speak for people who could not speak for themselves,” particularly children.

As a pediatrician, she said, “I believe that the child is indeed the father of the man, the mother of the woman. If you wish to take the measure of a family or a nation, it has been said that you should look first at how the family or nation treats its children.”

She was not questioned about the controversial issue of abortion, which initially jeopardized the nomination of her boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, nor did she address the subject in her testimony. The Administration has described her as anti-abortion.

Nor was she asked her position on the current federal ban on fetal tissue research, which was recently extended by the government despite recommendations by the scientific community that it be lifted.

Both Kennedy and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the committee’s ranking Republican, praised Novello and predicted that she would be an effective surgeon general.

“You are well-qualified to carry on the fine tradition of those before you,” said Hatch, for whom Novello worked as a health adviser in the early 1980s. “I strongly endorse your nomination, and I believe that you will carry on the legacy of all surgeons general before you.”