Cabinet-Level Task Force on AIDS Urged

The National Commission on AIDS, issuing its second report to President Bush, recommended Tuesday that the federal government create a high-ranking group such as a Cabinet-level task force to coordinate a national plan for the epidemic.

The commission also urged Bush to support passage of the $600-million “disaster relief” legislation for those cities hardest hit by AIDS, including Los Angeles.

“Throughout the nine long years of the epidemic, many people in various roles in the federal government have worked desperately to keep pace with the expanding demands of the epidemic as it pervades society,” said Dr. June E. Osborn, commission chairman, in proposing the new task force.

“But a much more flexible and responsive mechanism is needed to coordinate the many components of governmental action. The President can be most helpful in creating such a coordinating body to provide focus at the top,” Osborn said.

The bipartisan commission, which was created by Congress and whose members were appointed by Congress and the White House, will continue to recommend policy goals for a national plan, the report said. But “it is essential that a federal interagency mechanism be in place to coordinate a national plan,” the report said. “In this way, those who are ultimately responsible for the implementation will have an active role in its development.

“The resources simply must be provided now or we will pay dearly later,” the report said.

The commission also condemned policies that impede the use of funds for AIDS education and prevention services. Commission officials, for example, cited a recent proposal from the federal Centers for Disease Control that would prohibit AIDS education funding for materials considered “offensive to a majority of the intended audience or to a majority of persons outside the intended audience.”

They also cited recent action by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which rejected a recommendation to distribute bleach to intravenous drug abusers for use in sterilizing needles, and distribution of condom kits. The recommendation from the County AIDS Commission was an attempt to reduce transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

“In Los Angeles, the commission was deeply troubled by the hamstringing restrictions on the use of public dollars imposed by the elected local officials,” the report said.

The commission also called for more federal housing funds to help the AIDS-afflicted who are homeless, saying the problem was especially acute in New York City.

Finally, the commission called for House passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which would prohibit discrimination in the private sector against the disabled, including those infected with the human immunodeficiency virus or with fully-developed AIDS. Bush has already announced his support for the bill.

The commission’s recommendations were greeted with praise.

“I think it speaks well for the commission that it isn’t waiting until the end of its term to make its recommendations,” said Dr. Mervyn F. Silverman, president of the American Foundation for AIDS Research. “These reflect the major issues facing the country in regard to AIDS.”

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee and author of the disaster relief bill, said the commission’s recommendations “clearly point to the need for federal emergency relief for areas hard-hit by the AIDS crisis.”

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health, said the commission report “makes it clear AIDS is not over, it’s getting worse. Education, out-patient care, in-patient care and basic shelter are all overwhelmed and a tidal wave is coming.”

The commission is an independent panel established to advise Congress and the President on a “national consensus on policy” concerning the AIDS epidemic. In December, the commission released its first report to the President, which described the nation’s health care system as “singularly unresponsive” to the needs of AIDS-infected individuals.