European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 25, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 2 the stars and stripes monday november 25, 1985 a gearing up to treat aids patients Washington a at least 700 aids victims have turned to the veterans administration for treatment and the Agency is bracing for an even larger number As the Pentagon begins screening Active duty military personnel Tor signs of the deadly disease. Patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome arc being treated at Many of the 172 a medical centers around the country and the Agency is planning to establish major aids units at its hospitals in new York City san Francisco Miami and possibly two or three others an official said. Or. Howard Cohn associate Deputy chief medical director said the centers have been tentatively selected to treat aids patients and to be responsive to what web Tain in terms of Case Load from the there s simply no Way under current budgetary restraints to build up each Hospital Center to prudently and effectively Deal with aids patients Cohn said. It s just not possible to put All that equipment in every Hospital As of the first of november the a said it had treated 618 officially recorded cases of the disease which inhibits the body s immune system and blocks its ability to fight disease. Most people afflicted with the disease have been homosexuals intravenous drug abusers and recipients of contaminated blood transfusions. The a estimates it has probably treated More than m 700 patients citing breakdowns in the reporting system. Nearly half the Agency s aids patients have died Cohn said reflecting the same rate As among the nearly 15,000 aids cases recorded nationwide. No one has re covered from aids. The defense department has announced plans to administer to All 2.1 million military personnel the blood lest designed to detect exposure to the aids virus. Medical discharges will be Given to people who have the disease. A medical care is available free on a priority basis to former servicemen and the a is treating it As it does other ailments Cohn said. If they need care and arc eligible for health care they will receive it he said. Julian Barber health affairs spokesman for the defense department said the Pentagon does t expect a Large number of servicemen with aids to be found and wind up in the a medical system. He said there have been 108 cases among Active duty personnel so far. Cohn said the a has made Only rough estimates of How Many More cases to expect. But the Agency anticipates it May have around 1,000 cases by 1986 and 1,500 by 1987. Most aids patients Don t come right from the military but have spent an intervening period out of serv ice he said. The a estimates it spends $38,000 a year to treat an aids patient putting it among the most expensive diseases in Medicine comparable to intensive High technology care such As for open heart surgery and Bone mar Row transplants. Cohn said the average aids patient lives about vhf cars so the a spends close to $100,000 treating each patient. For 1,000 aids patients that would mean a Cost of $100 million.,those costs so far have been borne by the a s Normal $9w billion annual budget requiring cutbacks in other areas said Robert p. Dunn assistant director of re Curce management for the a s medical department. The Agency probably will ask Congress for More Money to pay for the aids treatment next year he said. But he declined to say How much. A lot of what happens to us depends on what the army does Dunn aids treatment at a hospitals consuls of Stan Dard drug regimens for the disease Cohn said. The a b doing Basic research involving aids at its Hospital in Manhattan and the Agency is planning a trial of a prom Ising new agent in cooperation with another institution yet to be announced he said. At the present time we do not have experimental drugs under trial for aids in the a system but that s not to say we won t be entering into one possibly As Early u next Spring Cohn said. I a of accused israeli agent charged suitcase of documents Washington a the wife Man charged with Selling defense secrets to foreign agents was accused saturday of Spir iting a suitcase filled with classified documents out of her apartment and asking a neighbor to destroy it. The Fri charged in a complaint that Anne l. Henderson Pollard 25. Wife of civilian intelligence employee Jonathan pol lard passed the material Over loan unauthorized person after her husband telephoned at Home and told her to remove certain articles from their apartment. Henderson Pollard appeared in District of Columbia Superior court on a charge of gathering or delivering defense information. Judge Rufus King ordered her held without Bond pending another hearing monday in . District court. Government complaint filed in court " Enderson Pollard who was described As a"4usuy of Maryland student received the Baffin her husband last Mon Day while he questioned by Fri and naval love sign a
