European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 13, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and stripes sunday october 13. 1985 military settings Don t add to aids risk panel sees no added danger in tanks subs by Cunt Swift Washington Bureau Washington a report on which the defense department is relying heavily in trying to decide where the first line of defense against aids should be drawn mates thai environmental contacts in Mil itary operational settings such As tanks submarines and aircraft arc not regarded As significant risks for infection by a Tiv Iii the virus associated with aids the report Points to hundreds of in stances in which families of people with the antibody or even the disease have lived together without catching the infection. Still groping in the medical darkness however the armed forces epidemiological Board the panel of civilian experts on infections which wrote the report admits it is still groping in the medical darkness surrounding the killer disease. An announcement had been expected this week on the military policy on testing Servic members for aids but some Mem Bers of the military medical Community said the announcement May be delayed. The Pentagon had originally sought to deny reporters a look at the recommendations on aids testing from the a Pic biological Board claiming it was an inter Nal document and saying they made up Only part of the input that would contrib Ute to a policy decision. The Board s memorandum was released on oct. 4 under the Freedom of information act. Spokesmen for the department s office of health affairs and for the medical departments of the services have been reluctant to talk about aids to avoid prejudicing the process that will Lead to a policy on aids testing in he military. The report recommends that Active duty personnel about to be assigned Over seas should be screened for the presence of the antibody that produces the virus that can cause aids. Limit Active duty screening it also urged that applicants for Active duty who test positive for the virus be de Nied entry to the services and referred to their physicians. The services started screening recruit candidates this month. The Board did not recommend screen ing All Active duty personnel at this time although it said its thinking could change As the natural history of the a Tiv Iii infection becomes More it said such screening is not feasible Pri Marily because of a Lack of trained medi Cal personnel and resources but also be cause of logistical requirements and Cost. That recommendation disappointed at least the army whose doctors perceive a serious risk to its three quarters of a Mil lion men and women. However the panel said military Mem Bers crying at overseas duty stations May be candidates for screening. A key Point the Board wrote is that no one knows whether people who have the antibody in their blood will get sick or if the illness will become aids usually the last of several stages of disease. The Board repeatedly called for continuing studies to clarify the threat. People already on Active duty who have the antibody in their blood but who Aren t sick May be considered for duty world wide the Board said. But they should get their immunity system checked every year. Those who Are sick or whose immunity systems Are compromised should be referred to a medical Board which would decide whether they should be sent Over seas. Those who test positive should be ineligible to give blood the Board said. Blood transfusions Are one of the most common ways of spreading the infection studies have shown. The Board said future testing and medi Cal evaluation might show that recruit candidates who lest positive but arc still healthy could be considered again for Mili tary service. The recommendation that they be initially rejected for service is based on the possibility that a positive test result May mean they have an increased potential to develop aids particularly if they Are inoculated with a live virus As has been common at Basic training stations or arc exposed to a disease such As malaria As they could be on assignments in South America Central America or Asia. Blood screening the Board recommended that donated blood be screened wherever a significant number of blood units arc to be proc Essed. The Board which includes University and Hospital specialists was responding to a request in june for recommendations from or. Jarry it Clinton Deputy assistant Secretary of defense for medical Quality Assurance. The members met in August to hear How the services assessed the threat and in to decide on its recommendations. Reagan says soviets hiding Osfar wars plan Washington a president Reagan saturday accused the soviet Union of dangerous deception in concealing a strategic defense program that could put a missile defense system in space by the end of the Century. In his weekly radio address the president said his Strate Gic defense initiative known popularly As Star wars is crucial to maintain the military balance and protect the Liberty and Freedom of the the soviets refuse to admit that they have any strategic defense program at All the president said. This is not Only deception. It is dangerous deception for without a full picture of what is going on the people of the world cannot know what they need to know to keep the Reagan speaking from his weekend Retreat in nearby Camp David md., said the soviet Union has the world s Only operational anti ballistic missile system the world s Only operational anti satellite system and the world s most extensive strategic air defense network. In addition he said the soviets have been engaged in a number of acts that raise questions about their commitment to the anti ballistic missile treaty of 1972, including construction of a new radar in Central Sibra which is an out and out violation of the treaty. But that s not All he said. The soviets have for a Long time been doing advanced research on their version Ofsei. They Don t talk about that. All they say about ski is that the United states should t have it. But As Many As 10,000 soviet scientists and engineers Are believed to be working on research re lated to ski. They Are doing so Well that our experts say they May be Able to put an advanced defensive system in space by the end of the Reagan said . Research is being conducted within the limits of the abm treaty. We Welcome the Day when the soviet Union can shoot Down any incoming missile so Long As the United states can shoot Down any incoming missile too the president said. Reagan described Star wars As a Means to a bal Ance of safely As opposed to a balance of terror and he repeated his frequent argument that it May result in getting rid of nuclear weapons the sooner the soviet Union comes clean about its own strategic defense programs and joins with us in a real dialogue to reduce risk of War the Betler it will be for the world he said. Panel hears about phobias from experts sufferers by Cox news a Nice Washington Willard Scott the Zany to Weatherman who once dressed up like Carmen Miranda on inc Abc today show has had to use drugs and therapy to gel up his nerve logo before the camera. One morning Oul of the Blue said Scott he was hit by fear and panic so great i could barely Scott sans Toupee testified Friday be fore a congressional subcommittee about his Anticipatory phobia and the National problem of millions of americans suffer ing from such irrational yet incapacitating fears. The first Lime i Houghl in was a heart attack Scott said. His heart raced. He sweated. He Felt like he could l breathe much less talk Scott told the House Energy and Commerce committee s sub Omittie on health and the environment. Scott was one of several witnesses including health officials As Well As Pho Bia sufferers who testified at the hear ing on what was termed America s most common mental health a study of mental disorders last year showed More than 11 million americans 7 Percy no of the population suffered from some t orm of phobic Testi fied scr Vert Frazier director of the National Institute of mental health. In addition an estimated 1.2 million apm to Willard Scott. Never give in to experienced panic attacks one woman s fear of attending Fune rals gradually extended to fear of anyone who had been to a funeral or anything that had been touched by a person who had been to a funeral he said. This irrational fear eventually left her confined to one room in her Home for 20 legislation has been introduced in con Gress to designate october As phobia awareness month to help make the nation More aware of the magnitude of the prob Lem. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in a different time and in a far differ ent context thai we have nothing to fear but fear itself said rep. Henry Wax Man d-calif., the subcommittee chair Man. For thousands perhaps millions of americans for s words have daily significance. They Are the people who Are afflicted even paralysed by the irrational fears known As Scott. 51, told the subcommittee the main reason i m Here is to encourage anybody who has a problem with a Pho Bia not to be ashamed and to seek help. Scott said he has had help from two Doc tors and some medication to fight his phobia. "1 still have a phobia he said explain ing that he will probably have to fight to continue to control fear for the rest of his life. The most important thing is to never give in to the hearing said rep. Michael Biliran Kis r-fla., came because Congress has never looked at the problem of "1 find thai amazing he said consid ering Hal one in nine adults suffers from some kind of phobia with one in 20 suffer ing from the most serious Type of phobia agoraphobia testified Frazier is marked by the fear of being alone of being in Public places or in places where escape might be difficult. While hard to imagine by those who have never had l or who Cope with fear successfully patients describe it As As devastating and Frazier said the National Institute of mental health has spent More than $4 million this year studying phobias. Extreme phobias lend to run in families he said indicating that they arc transmitted either by genetic inheritance social learning or Scott testified that his wife and Daugh Ter have both had problems with phobias. Treatment of phobias said Frazier Range from exposing the patient to the feared situation in inc company of a Thyra Pisl to of Anli . Long term studies arc needed to deter Minc which treatments Are off Clive Over Lime he said noting thai the study last year was inc first indication of How wide spread the problems Wilh phobias Are. People who suffer from phobias Don t look different from you or said Bil Irakis. They arc intelligent energetic sex Iron cried and sons iliac individuals. Only this week an article appeared in people Magazine which discussed aretha Franklin and her phobias. We arc talking about millions of
