What Sullivan Tried to Say Over Shouts and Whistles : AIDS: As new points of urgency arise, so does frustration. Compassion and commitment are sorely needed.

The many efforts to understand and address AIDS and HIV infection must not become fragmented and divisive. As scientists, advocates and policy-makers, we cannot become simply symbols driven by slogans, using the media as proxy to provide high drama. We must find the compassion and humanity to transcend misunderstanding, hatred and violence.

Because personal responsibility is a key factor in limiting the spread of the virus, we must work to foster a culture of character--in other words, a climate of increased emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention.

Because AIDS has a devastating impact on our poor and minority communities, we must develop culturally relevant and sensitive programs to combat the disease. This need was again underlined in a recent study . . . which found that black gay and bisexual men are far less likely to practice safe sex than white gay or bisexual men.

Because some experimental drugs may be useful in preventing the onset of symptoms and in treating the disease, we have to keep working to rapidly put those drugs in the hands of those who could benefit.

Because discrimination is not medically or morally justified, we must keep working to enforce the current anti-discrimination laws, and in this country to support passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act under consideration by Congress.

And because we are constantly looking for productive leads in the fight against AIDS, the government and the private sector must keep supporting our researchers and scientists with appropriate funding and facilities.

The President’s budget proposes an increase of $109 million for research, education and prevention activities related to the AIDS crisis, bringing the total support for such activities to $1.7 billion next year. We should remember that AIDS research, prevention and education rank second only to cancer in terms of federal financial support--and this for a disease we didn’t even know about 10 years ago.

But we must also remember that there is no magic price tag, no guaranteed price for success. That is part of the frustration that all of us feel.

Cooperation must be expanded, and both sides must work to foster understanding and trust. It is inevitable that AIDS will generate strong and passionate discussions on a wide variety of topics. . . . Our frustration must never drive us to close our ears or our hearts. Instead, AIDS must bring us together. From adversity we must seek cooperation, tolerance, understanding and caring. Compassion must be our motivation and our guide. We must be ever-cognizant of the fact that the enemy is the virus. . . .